


Indefinitely

by turningofflights



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Found Family, World Travel, dumping the first 5 chapters at once, klaroline main, some smut but not a lot, the klaus and katherine friendship i didnt know i wanted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:02:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 55,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28212867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turningofflights/pseuds/turningofflights
Summary: Klaus and Caroline find themselves magically linked with each other. Anything that happens to one happens to the other. The pair goes on the run indefinitely, fearing the day word spreads. The original hybrid is no longer invincible. You just have to kill the girl. Picks up after 4x13. Klaroline main with some Elijah/Katherine. COMPLETE.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson/Katherine Pierce
Comments: 42
Kudos: 125





	1. Mystic Falls

"I've done more than enough. I've shown kindness, forgiveness, pity because of you Caroline. It was all for you," Klaus said. He stood in front of Caroline, his face the most vulnerable and naked she had ever seen it. He was looking for a reward. He wanted her to be with him because he'd let Tyler escape with his life and he saved her from a fatal wound he created. It was ludicrous when she thought about it. You don't get rewarded with a person because you made baby steps, yet, when she looked in his eyes, she knew how significant the night was for him. Giving Tyler a head-start was likely the kindest thing Klaus had done in years. Part of her wanted to tell him it was good, commend him for the strides, and encourage him to keep going. Tonight, though, she couldn't bring herself to extend that kindness. Not when she just said goodbye to the boy she loved. She looked into his eyes, but said nothing.

Klaus stormed away from the Gilbert house. She had some nerve, berating him like that, standing by while her boyfriend plotted his demise, all to use his feelings for her against him to give unearned penance. What would it take? He hadn't tried to prove himself to somebody in centuries. He shouldn't even have to. He was the hybrid. What was she? Some new vampire who'd taken fewer than twenty rotations around the sun? He took deep, angry breaths, squeezing his fists together as he walked. And Tyler? That guy? He was what Klaus had to show for his hybrid family? He was who Caroline chose instead of him over and over again? An idiot who staged a half-baked mutiny against him, a fucking waste of space moron who dropped everything and left Caroline whenever it was convenient for him, _that's_ who he sacrificed his entire reputation for? For her to not even say thank you? Did she even realize how many enemies he had? If it circulated that he spared somebody who betrayed him like that—

The pain hit him fiercely and suddenly. About two-hundred and fifty meters from the Gilbert house, Klaus doubled over, coughing up blood, falling to the ground. What the hell? Was it the Bennett witch? He looked around frantically, waiting for the attacker to reveal themselves. He felt like his insides were going to explode. He started crawling back to the house. If Caroline knew anything about a plot against him, he would get it out of her. As he crawled, however, the pain went away as suddenly as it struck. He wiped the blood off his mouth and sprinted back to the house in seconds, ready to pry the information out of her.

"Caroline Forbes, if you know—," he started. When he approached the stairs, however, he saw her laid next to a small puddle of blood on the porch. She looked up at him with the confusion as he felt.

"Klaus, what just happened?" she asked. Klaus ran and helped her up in a single motion by her elbow. She shook his hand off quickly, and he raised his hands up innocently.

"I don't know, but we better get you inside. Whoever did it could be out here," he said, and they walked back in the house and locked the front door behind them. He scratched his elbow; he thought he felt something. He peered out through the blinds, but saw nobody.

"It had to be a witch, right?" Caroline asked. "Doing one of those aneurysm things?"

"It was different," he murmured, not looking from the window.

"I don't get it," she said. "Who would attack us both?"

"Do you want me to make you a list of everybody I have pissed off in the last thousand years, Caroline? I bet it was somebody who heard that I no longer make examples of my betrayers, but rather let them go at the will of some girl," he spat.

"Oh yeah, your merciful reputation made the rounds of the supernatural community in twenty minutes." Caroline rolled her eyes. She walked to the living room and sat on the couch.

"Well, perhaps he is shouting it from the rooftops already, or from whatever little wolf love-nest he's made with what's-her-name," Klaus said. That one stung. Caroline crossed her arms and looked away from him. Klaus looked back and cursed himself. He stepped away from the window and walked toward her.

"It's probably just Bonnie's spell keeping me from going too far from my prison. Maybe she's all healed up and the magic just went lopsided like it tends to," Klaus said, sitting beside her on the couch. Caroline got up and sat on the floor across from him against the entertainment stand, her arms still crossed. He glared.

"Or, perhaps, it is instead the effects of your friend dying painfully," he said angrily.

"God, Klaus. Have you ever not thrown a tantrum in your life when people don't do exactly what you want them to?" Caroline asked.

"Says the one sitting on the hard wood so you don't have to sit near someone who just saved your life," Klaus retorted, leaning back against the couch.

"Right, right, saved me from that life-threatening wound _you did to me_!"

"You get stuck on that part every time," Klaus said with a smile. Caroline looked at him in disbelief, and a small smile escaped her. She sighed and stood up.

"You're probably right. The spell is just malfunctioning a little with you getting out early. It probably just affected me because I got in there with you. Let's just sleep here tonight and you can try to leave again when the spell is supposed to have worn off," Caroline said, standing.

"Oh, and you are certainly suggesting this plan because you A. value my company, B. are looking out for my health, or C. are trying to extend Tyler's head start as long as possible. Let's think about it…" Klaus placed a contemplative finger on his chin.

Caroline dug in the hall closet for bed linens, grabbed a couple of sheets and a pillow, and walked back to the couch. She started to put the fitted sheet over Klaus before he got out of the way, smiling.

"You can guess which," Caroline muttered, taking the back cushions off the couch and making it up for him.

"Certainly this couch isn't big enough for the both of us," Klaus said, sitting on the arm. Caroline shook her head in disbelief.

"I will crash in Elena's room," she replied.

"This house is certainly big enough. Isn't there some deceased Gilbert's room I can stay in instead? Not that this doesn't look comfortable," Klaus said. Caroline froze and looked up at him.

"You aren't sleeping in Jenna's room."

A moment of shame flashed in Klaus's playful eyes and he looked away from her. Caroline handed him a pillow and paused, looking at him for a moment. She sighed left to go upstairs.

"No warm milk?" He shouted after her.

"Go the fuck to sleep, Klaus!"

He smiled to himself as she slammed the bedroom door.

Caroline borrowed a pair of Elena's sweat pants and a Mystic Falls High t-shirt and crawled in her bed, a bed she's had many sleepovers and girl talks in before. She remembered when she first started dating Tyler. She and Elena laid in the dark in this room laughing together all night about it. Elena giggled to her about it was _bound_ to happen. They were so perfect together. Maybe, when Stefan came back, they could go on double dates. A tear escaped the corner of Caroline's eye, and she quickly wiped it away. She got up and walked around her best friend's room. She picked up and looked at a framed photo of Miranda and Jenna. Elena, an orphan. Tyler, an orphan now, too. She sighed and put the photo back down on the dresser. She felt like the room was a memorial to Jenna. Jenna, who Klaus killed before she could graduate from her master's program, before she could find real non-Logan love.

Klaus's words echoed in her mind from earlier that night. _It was all for you, Caroline._ She looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. When she was dying, she told him there were moments where she wished she could forget everything he had done. The truth was, it was every moment she was with him. She decided to leave this monument to the dead and let herself forget. If she didn't, she would cry all night about Tyler, Jenna, and the guilt inside her from knowing that Klaus would always spare her, but nobody else. Caroline tore her eyes from the photos on Elena's mirror and walked downstairs.

Klaus lied between the sheets on the couch. His jacket was folded up on the chair and his shoes on the ground next to it. He looked up at her and smiled. She noticed he was drawing by the lamplight.

"Couldn't stay away, love?" he asked. Caroline ignored the question, and walked to the kitchen. She rifled through the pantry and found a box of popcorn bags. As she microwaved a bag, she looked up to find him staring at her. She turned away and looked out the kitchen window. The moon shone bright in the sky, and she wondered where Tyler was. When the microwave beeped, she opened the door, grabbed a bowl, and poured the popcorn in it. Klaus watched her, wondering if she was going back upstairs.

She waved her hand at him, indicating he should move over. Klaus smiled and spun to sit up straight, his bare feet peaking out of the bottom of the blanket. Caroline had never seen him without shoes on before. He looked so comfortable. He caught her eye as she watched him. They held eye contact for a hair too long, and she felt a flutter in her stomach. She shook her head and grabbed the remote off the coffee table and pointed it at the screen. Klaus grimaced at the TV and looked back down at his sketch pad as Caroline channel flipped with one hand and grabbed small bites of popcorn with the other. She tried to subtly peer at the picture without being too obvious, but he caught her and smiled.

"If you want to know if it's you, just ask," he said.

"Well, you happen to have my good side right now. I'm great in profile," she said, lifting her chin with joking pride. Klaus shifted to face her and flipped open to a blank page and to draw her in the new angle.

"Wait, now I'll have a double chin," she said. "You'll get me in zombie TV mode."

"I'll clean up the jawline for you," he replied, laughing. Caroline landed on some old _Veronica Mars_ rerun and put her feet up on the coffee table. She knew she shouldn't fall asleep here. She was next to the most dangerous creature on the planet, after all. Just an episode then she'll go to bed. Just till she was tired enough the pictures wouldn't haunt her.

After half an hour of silence of Caroline watching the show and Klaus sketching quietly next to her, Klaus spoke. "I was doubtful, Caroline, but this is a pretty fine program."

"Well, I figured sassy blondes seem to do it for you," she said.

"I guess you're right," he said, adding texture to Caroline's curls in the picture.

Caroline pivoted, moving her legs onto the couch, and leaned away from Klaus, to get more comfortable. She bent her knees and placed her feet by him. He quickly grabbed the pillow she gave him from his right side and handed it to her. She took it, nodded her thanks, and placed it beneath her head. She was annoyed at how nice it smelled. Just as Kristen Bell was solving the case, Caroline felt sleep start to take her.

When Caroline awoke, she saw the bright sun outside of the back door window. The TV continued to play, but it had been muted in the night. She saw Klaus asleep in a seated position, similar to where he was when she fell asleep. His sketch book lay open in his lap and his hand rested on her shin. His head laid at an awkward angle against the back of the couch. It couldn't have been comfortable. She tried to lean forward so as not to wake him up, but she wanted a peek at his sketch book. There it was: a drawing of her. She suspected it might be of her sleeping, which would veer too far into creepy, but instead it was a photo of her smiling in profile, a few pieces of popcorn in her hand.

"Like it, love?" he said, stirring. As he got up, he felt the kink in his neck, and reached his hand to massage it. Caroline suddenly also felt a kink in her neck, one she hadn't felt before, in the same place.

"Ah," she said in some pain.

"What is it?" he asked. He alleviated the discomfort fast. His body didn't let things like that bother him for long. Caroline's neck felt better quickly.

"Nothing, just…" she trailed off. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Not that it isn't cute when you're deep in thought, because it is, but if you'd like to share with the class—," he started. She got up suddenly and walked over to the kitchen. She grabbed a small knife from the knife block.

"Come here," she said.

"Do you have to be armed and dangerous for this request?" he asked, standing and walking toward her. He took in this sight of her. Bed-head. T-shirt wrinkled. Makeup worn. He smiled and stood in front of her.

"Trust me," she said, and grabbed his hand. Woah. She felt a weird sensation, like her own hand was being touched, but nobody was touching her. She pricked his index finger with the tip of the knife. A small drop of blood appeared.

"Ow," she muttered and looked down at her own hand. On the same finger, she had a drop of blood. As his finger healed, so did hers. Klaus looked at her with alarm. He took the knife from her hand without asking and Caroline got stiff.

"Oh, relax," he said.

"Says the guy who just impaled me," she muttered.

"You really hold a grudge," he said absently, taking her hand. He dropped it, startled. "Did you feel that, too?" She nodded. He picked her hand back up, trying to ignore the odd sensation, and made a small cut in the palm of her hand with the knife. On his own hand, an identical cut appeared. Both of their hands healed in sync.

"Okay, this is weird," she said, and he nodded. He looked up in her eyes, looking for any sign that she was faking her reaction, or this was a plan she was in on. All he found was the confusion and vague concern that matched his. She pinched him on the arm hard. They both flinched, and watched the nail marks fade from both of their arms. Their minds raced.

Caroline looked back at him and realized she had never seen him like this. Klaus in a t-shirt. Klaus first thing in the morning.

"We need to figure this out. This and our episodes last night can't be a coincidence," he said.

Caroline nodded, then looked at the floor, and a wave of guilt overcame her.

"Klaus…" she whispered.

"What?" he asked, following her eye line. He had walked across the remnants of ash where his brother's body had laid, and tracked them into the kitchen. He'd been too busy looking at Caroline to notice the stain. He looked away from her and tried to compose himself.

"Where did you take the body?" he asked.

"I don't know. I helped Tyler get Kol into his car, but I don't know where he took him," she whispered, looking down. She couldn't meet his eyes.

"How about you shower and I'll clean up in here?" she asked. Klaus looked away from her and nodded grimly. He left to go upstairs and Caroline rummaged for cleaning supplies beneath Elena's sink. This is where Jeremy and Elena killed Kol and his entire sire line with him. She knew Kol compelled Damon to kill Jeremy. She knew he probably even deserved this. What a waste it was, though. How many vampires would Jeremy have had to kill to finish the mark? 10? How many died when Kol died? Thousands? Thousands who might not hurt people, who are just trying to live normal lives like her, Elena, or Lexi. She thought of the hybrid upstairs, who'd now lost two siblings at the hands of her friends. She shook her head. The originals were the bad guys. Just then, she felt the sensation of hot water all over her body. She leapt. When she looked down, though, she was completely dry. She ran upstairs and walked in the bathroom.

"Unless you wanted to join me, Caroline, this is typically a solo practice" he said, peering around the curtain.

"I can feel the water," she said. It was the strangest sensation she'd ever felt, familiar but also entirely out of place. He frowned and nodded. Another thing to tell Bonnie. Caroline went back down and got back to work scrubbing the stain. It took a while, but after twenty-minutes, it finally came out. Klaus came downstairs.

"How was it?" she asked, pouring the soapy water down the sink after cleaning.

"Well, courtesy of the doppelgänger, I now smell like apple and honey," he said.

"Well, when Damon and Stefan get here, you better steer clear if you don't want them fighting over you," Caroline said, and Klaus laughed.

"Do you know when they'll be back?" he asked. "We need to have a word with the witch about what's going on."

"Should be soon," she said. He went back to the couch and put on his socks, shoes, and jacket. She wondered if he didn't want them to see him so at home in Elena's house. Maybe she was at fault for letting him be. Was it disrespectful to Elena? She felt guilty for their civil night of TV and drawing, right on Jenna's couch. Caroline dried the tub and placed it back under the sink, grabbed a towel, and dried the floor where Kol's body had been. Klaus watched her clean the evidence. The kitchen was good as new, like his brother had never been murdered there.

Suddenly, the front door burst open.

"There you are," said Caroline.

"Let's get him upstairs," Klaus heard Elena say. He got up to see the doppelgänger and Stefan, who carried Jeremy's lifeless corpse. A part of him felt vindicated. A brother for a brother. Stefan and Elena froze at the sight of Klaus.

"Go on, mate, I won't stop you," he said. Stefan eyed Klaus for another beat, and, after some nonverbal communication with Caroline, he took Jeremy upstairs with Elena. Klaus felt bubbles of jealousy rising from watching them silently understand and trust each other so easily. Caroline ran to the doorway, but saw nobody else. Stefan walked back down the stairs and crossed his arms at the sight of Klaus.

"Well, Klaus, by the smell of you, either your definition of 'hunting us to our end' is breaking into Elena's shampoo, or something changed in the couple days we were gone," he said. Caroline came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Something weird is happening, Stefan," she said. "Whatever happens to Klaus is happening to me and vice versa. Last night, when he tried to leave, he got, like, a block away before we both were hit with this sudden horrible pain."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. When he came back, I felt fine again," she said.

"I'd like a word with your witch," Klaus said. "Bonnie's incompetence once again has me finding myself in an inconvenient situation. I would like to return to hunting Tyler, if she doesn't mind."

"Well, as motivated as I am sure she will be to let you get to murdering her friend, Bonnie is still on the island. A lot happened. Damon is there now looking for her," he said. Caroline got hit with a wave of concern for her friends.

"Well, if Damon's on the case, everything is fine," Klaus said, irritated. "What of my sister?"

"She's back there, too, trying to track down the cure. Katherine came and took it. She woke up Silas and let him… drain Jeremy," Stefan said.

"Oh my God. Jeremy," Caroline said, catching herself on the wall next to her.

"Elena is waiting for him to wake up," Stefan said.

"Ah, but he forfeited the magic ring when he became a hunter, didn't he? Pity," Klaus said. Caroline flashed him an angry look.

"Caroline, why do you think you guys are experiencing this… link?" Stefan asked.

"Well, I got in the barrier with him. Maybe something went wonky with the spell. I thought last night maybe Klaus just couldn't get too far from where the barrier was, but now I'm wondering if he just couldn't get too far from me." Stefan looked at them both curiously.

"Elena needs me right now, and probably needs this to be a Klaus-free zone. Maybe now is a good time to test your theory? I'll let you know if I hear from Bonnie?" Stefan said.

"Okay," Caroline said and got up to walk outside. Klaus followed her, but stopped to whisper to Stefan.

"If you hear back from your brother, tell him to bring the witch back fast before I get angry and do something stupid."

When they walked out the door, Klaus felt the fresh air on his face. Barring his brief, angry walk last night, it was his first time outside in days. He hated being inside when the moon was full. It called him to be outside.

"You know, a 'please let Damon know I would like to speak with Bonnie when they get back' would have sufficed," Caroline said.

"And how effective would that be?" Klaus asked, smiling.

The pair retraced Klaus's steps from the night before, but no sickness hit them. They walked a mile from the house before they accepted it was nothing to do with distance from the living room.

"Maybe it's over now? The full moon is over, so we won't get sick?" Caroline asked.

"One way to find out, love. Stay here," Klaus commanded. He walked away from her for a while until, roughly the same distance as the night before, he felt terrible pain and crumbled to the ground, coughing up blood. He looked up and saw Caroline in the same position. He managed to get up and walk closer to her and the pain disappeared as fast as it came. She ran toward him and found herself in front of him within seconds.

"It's like…" she said.

"Like we were dying?" he asked. She nodded.

"Fuck!" he yelled, kicking a mailbox off its post. She jumped. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. He spent centuries looking for true immortality. Now his life was linked to a brand new vampire. He sighed and they went back to the house.

Hours passed and Klaus got increasingly anxious waiting for the witch. Caroline spent most of the day trying to support the doppelgänger, but he recognized how little use anyone was to the girl now. Every person who came to tend to Elena, the doctor and the quarterback, leered at him when they walked in. Eventually, Caroline settled back onto the couch they slept on the night before. He was jittery, his leg bouncing, tapping his pencil against his sketchbook. When Damon's car approached, he and Caroline heard the engine at the same time, and they ran outside.

The witch embraced Caroline, which Klaus felt every bit of to his annoyance, and muttered some cult nonsense about dropping the veil and Silas. Klaus ran up to her and got his hand around her throat. Damon moved to attack him.

"Wait!" Caroline shouted. Damon stopped in his tracks.

"We're just going to have a quick chat then you can get back to your regularly scheduled programming," Klaus said.

"It's fine, Damon, just go find Stefan," Caroline said.

"Blondie, you have no idea how long it took to find her," Damon warned.

"I won't let anything happen to her," Caroline said.

"Assuring," he spat back, but he left them to it to go find his brother. There were more important things to discuss.

Klaus loosened his grip around Bonnie's throat, but held her still.

"Bonnie, we need your help," Caroline said, and she told her everything that happened.

"You got in the barrier with him, Caroline!?" Bonnie asked.

"Well 'got in' is certainly a way to phrase it. I like to call it _I was impaled_!" Caroline snapped.

"Okay, okay, fair. The thing is, spells have consequences. Two people can't enter the barrier together without being magically linked. When the spell broke, and Klaus left the barrier, the link was triggered. Your lives are linked. Whatever happens to one of you happens to both of you," Bonnie explained.

"Gee, thanks for the heads up, Bonnie!"

"I didn't realize, 'Hey Caroline, don't get in the magical barrier with the serial killer,' needed to be said!"

"Again, _impaled_."

"Ladies, not to interrupt this charming banter, but I just want to be clear. Are you telling me that, if Caroline is killed in the manner by which normal vampires are vulnerable, say, a stake to the heart, sunlight, that I would die with her?" Klaus asked.

"Well… yes," Bonnie said.

Before Caroline could blink, Klaus picked her up, and they were gone.

* * *

When Caroline came to, she realized she was in a basement, shackled to a wall. Klaus paced around the room trying to think of a way out of this.

"What the hell, Klaus!?"

"Sorry for the measures, love, but I need you to listen to me."

"Sorry, these shackles are deafening me!"

"Caroline, do you have any idea what this means? The second any of my many enemies find out about you, they will kill you to kill me. And if that witch succeeds in dropping the veil and my twelve hybrids come back from he dead, they will come looking for you first thing. I haven't been this vulnerable in a thousand years," he said, looking devastated. His entire life he was motivated by the pursuit of becoming truly indestructible.

"So rather than ask me what I think of all this, you chained me to a wall?" Caroline asked, bitterly.

"Well, I didn't anticipate you being particularly cooperative, love. Until we can find a witch to fix this mess, obviously you will need to be protected," Klaus waved her off. Caroline leaned her head back and closed her eyes. He was insufferable.

"Yeah, because none of our 'break in and kidnap the prisoner' plans have ever been successful, Klaus. Remember how we _just_ got Elena from your own house? Did it occur to you that the safest place for me would be free with you? _This_ is the mastermind who foils our every plan!?" She pulled on the chains, but she couldn't get them down.

"And what do you want me to do, Caroline? If I left it up to you, you would insist on carrying on with these friends in the Gilbert house, waiting to be picked off by the first person who knows to go there to find us. And how long would it take before one of your friends decides you're a necessary sacrifice to kill me, huh? You think Damon would hesitate to end your life if he knew the rest of theirs would be spared?" Caroline recoiled. A brutal, but fair point.

"What would you suggest?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know. If the witch drops that veil, you're going to be vulnerable to everyone on the other side who wants to kill me," Klaus said. He was pacing with anger.

Caroline groaned. "If they're on the other side, theoretically, they could be watching us right now. They know we're here and they know we're linked," she looked around the empty room. The thought of a dozen or more supernatural creatures on the other side chomping at the bit for a chance to kill her made her uneasy. She was a walking target to get to the worst creature alive.

"We need to get Bonnie to break the link," Caroline said.

"Bonnie seems to have other things on her mind, love, like a psychotic break. Besides, if it's between bringing the hunter back and saving you, we know what she'll choose."

"I get it, you think I'm expendable to my friends, you can quit hammering it home now," she snapped. Klaus stopped pacing and looked at her. He nodded his apologies.

"We should be on the other side of the planet, Caroline. Come up with a cover story until the witch gets around to fixing this or we find another one." Klaus laughed to himself. She would never go. He couldn't just dagger her and cart her around in a box either. Maybe he could get a witch to—

"Then why don't we?" she whispered, interrupting his thoughts.

"Why don't we what, love?"

"Why don't we leave?" she asked. Klaus looked up, confused. "After all, you're Mr. I-Can-Show-You-The-World. If Bonnie succeeds in dropping the veil, I don't want to be the first victim in some dead hybrid vengeance plan any more than you want me to. I love Elena, and I want to be here for her, but she's got plenty of Salvatore love right now. Let's go. You sent Tyler away anyway. I might as well go," she said, dejected. Klaus shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You want me to take you places?" he asked.

"You could teach a course in selective listening, but yes, I suppose that's what I'm saying. We shouldn't tell anyone where we're going… they could compel them to give us up. You hear that, possibly eavesdropping dead Hybrids? Nobody will know where we're going!" she shouted into the empty room. Klaus lit up.

"Okay, then," he said, smiling. He released her from the shackles. "We'll have to hop around before anyone figures out they can hurt me through you. Where do you want to go?" he asked.

Caroline started crying, the reality hitting her. Who knows when she'd see her mom again? Her friends? This wasn't going to be some romantic backpacking trip she hoped she's someday have with Tyler. It was fleeing for her life with the man who sent him away.

"I don't care," she said, quietly. He sighed and nodded, helping her up.


	2. Ireland

“You know, I’m surprised by the choice,” Caroline said. When they arrived in Ireland, Klaus compelled a cab driver to take their bags to his house and give the house-sitter the day off. They went straight to the city to his favorite pub, a little red building called “Doyles” a few blocks from the River Liffey. She looked around the pub. It was warm with energy. The glass bottles at the bar glimmered against the dark ambiance. The walls, tables, and chairs were a warm and homey dark wood. Locals watched the rugby game on the screens, cheering loudly at every score. Klaus compelled a spot at the small table in the back corner, bought two pints, and set them on the table.

“What’s wrong with Dublin?” Klaus said, smiling.

“Nothing’s wrong with Dublin. I just expected you to try to seduce me on some remote island or something,” she shrugged.

“Well, if that’s what you want, just let me know for next time.” Caroline rolled her eyes and looked at the drinks, which sat in the middle of the table.

“Which one is mine?” she asked.

“I’m just going to take whichever one you like less. You know, there are a few studies on whether Guinness tastes better in its home country. Have you ever had it back in the States?” Klaus asked. He put his arm on the back of the chair next to him and assessed her face as she looked between the beer and the cider, deciding which to choose.

“I have not,” she said.

“Not a fan of dark beers?”

“Not a fan of beer in general,” she said. She caught his amused look and picked up the beer. She sipped it and instantly scrunched her face up with disgust.

Klaus laughed and slid the glass over to his side of the table, wrapping his hands around it. She took a tentative sip of the cider and was relieved by the sweetness. She couldn’t even taste alcohol in it.

“That might change. We’ll have to come back when you’ve developed a taste for it. They’re known for it here,” he said.

“Well, they can keep it,” she grimaced and he smiled. Caroline shivered.

“Would you please not hold your glass like that? My hands are freezing,” she complained.

“Oh, what, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” Klaus said, bringing the glass to his cheek. She felt the sudden chill on her cheek. She shoved his arm and laughed as he put the glass back down.

“Seriously, why Ireland?” she asked, sipping her drink. The waiter came by with fries, and she grabbed a few.

“I have a horse at our home here that I thought you might like to meet,” Klaus shrugged. Caroline looked up at him.

“You remembered,” she said, running a hand through her hair.

“I remember everything you tell me,” he said. “Even the not very nice things.” Caroline’s eyes flickered down to her hands. She sipped on her drink in a quiet moment.

“I can’t believe I’m going to miss prom. Graduation, the senior trip, all of it,” she sighed.

“Why do these things matter so much to you?” he asked, stealing one of her fries.

“What do you mean?” she asked. Cheers echoed through the pub.

“Look where you are, Caroline. Look what we did. We went to the airport, we compelled first class tickets, and now we are in another country, at a pub far, far away. You can do anything. The day you died was the day you were set free. If you can look me in the eye and tell me you have a good reason for refusing to acknowledge that, other than the fact this is simply where you left off, I’d love to hear it.” He watched her face as she tried to formulate an answer.

“We’re immortal. You were right; I wouldn’t take the cure if I had the chance. I do love being a vampire. But do you know why you and Rebekah run around falling for high school students? Because aging is what drives people to change. To do anything. Humans mess around and enjoy high school, but then they get older, they pick what matters to them, and they do their best until they die. We don’t have to do that. We don’t have to change. There’s no reason to.

There’s no ticking clock. I organize dances because it’s what I’m picking, at least for now.”

“Are you serious? That’s why? You’re staving off finding personal meaning?” he asked, laughing.

“Oh, I’m sorry, maybe I should spend the entirety of my existence pursuing absolute power and racking up a body count longer than the Great Wall of China. Would that satisfy you?” she asked, rolling her eyes. Klaus rose his eyebrows in amusement.

“And to think this entire time I’ve been trying to prove I was good enough for you. Say what you want about my goals, Caroline, but you could be using your newfound superpowers to save girls in alleys and, instead, you’re inconvenienced by being taken from your prom. Sure, you heal a bystander or two when it’s not out of your way, but you’re looking down on me like you’re up on a mountain, but you’re on a child’s toilet training step stool.” he laughed at her. Caroline scoffed and crossed her arms. She let his comments sink in.

“You should be glad,” she muttered, looking anywhere but his eyes.

“Why’s that, love?” he asked quietly. She glanced up into in his prying eyes.

“Because it means my bar isn’t as high as you think it is. I don’t want you to put on your Batman costume. I just want you to live without hurting people needlessly,” she said. He sat back and looked at her.

“That’s a high ask of me, love. I have been me for a very long time,” he said. He hoped she would tell him she’d wait or she’d expect less. Instead, she just nodded.

“I know,” she said. She looked up at the screen and watched the game, finishing her drink.

“Come on. I know an ice cream place,” he said.

They walked down a cobblestone streets and heard choruses of Irish music playing as the doors of the pubs opened and shut. The misty air coated their faces with water.

“Are we in tourist country?” she asked.

“Definitely. How did you know?”

“The people passing us. It’s mostly American accents now. And more green decor in general,” she said.

He smiled at the observation. They walked in quiet for a few minutes. A group of drunk girls walked by them, laughing hysterically. Caroline thought of Elena and Bonnie and frowned. She missed her friends.

“I can’t believe you got cotton candy,” Klaus said, shaking her out of her thoughts.

“Well, I didn’t spot ‘blood flavor’ on the menu. I’m sorry my taste isn’t good enough for you,” she teased.

“In more ways than one,” he said, taking a bite of his chocolate scoop. She rolled her eyes at the comment.

“Have you even had this before?” she asked. He grimaced. She held the cup out toward him. He looked at her with a curious look, before he took his spoon and got a small bite. The second he tasted it, he scrunched his nose up.

“Oh, please, you decided you didn’t like it before you even tried it!” she scoffed.

“First the cider over the Guinness and now you’re in a country with some of the best dairy in the world and you choose to slather it with as much fake blue rubbish as you can. Your tastes reveal your age, love,” he shook his head. Caroline opened her mouth to say something when she got distracted by two men laughing loudly as they walked down the street.

“Oh shit; it’s her!” said one of the men, and they broke into a run. Caroline looked behind them and saw a woman running behind them.

“Somebody stop them! They stole my bag!” she yelled, pointing at the them. Caroline looked at Klaus, who shrugged and took another bite of his ice cream.

“Come on,” she said, starting in the direction of the thieves.

“Are you serious, love? A mugging?”

“No problem, Klaus. I’m sure they won’t get, how far did we guess, eight-hundred feet away? They’re probably crab-walking! I’m sure it’ll be fine to wait back here!” she shouted behind her shoulder. Klaus groaned and threw his ice cream away. At first, they ran at a speed that wouldn’t alert the bystanders, but when they cleared the street, they sprinted in the direction of the men and caught them fast. Klaus stopped and sat lazily on an empty keg while Caroline stopped right in front of them.

“What the fuck? What are you?” they asked.

“Yes, love, why don’t you answer? Are you, how did you phrase it, putting on your Batman costume?”

“More or less,” she said, and she bit one of them, drinking deeply. Klaus smiled. The other man raised a fist to hit Caroline, but Klaus sprinted toward him.

“Wouldn’t do that if I were you, mate,” he said, grabbing the man’s arm, spinning him to face him. The man looked at his yellow eyes in terror, and Klaus bit his neck. When he was on the verge of killing him, Caroline put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, annoyed. She wiped her mouth and turned the victim to face her. She bit into her wrist and fed him her blood then looked into his eyes.

“You are going to take your buddy and get out of here, then you are going to make better choices.” The man nodded and helped his friend up. They ran down the street, and Caroline picked up the purse from the ground. Klaus wiped the blood off his mouth and watched her. She caught his eye and threw her hands in the air.

“What? Like we were going to make a stop at the blood bank?”

The woman ran down into the street.

“Oh, thank God. Thank you! Where did they go?”

“They got away. But here you go,” Caroline said, handing the stranger’s bag to her.

“Thank you so much,” the woman smiled.

“Oh, it was all him,” Caroline said, pointing to Klaus. Before he could object, the woman gave him a hug and thanked him profusely. Klaus raised his arms awkwardly, not returning the hug. Caroline could feel the hug.

“Well, yeah, it’s, uh, all fine now,” he said.

“So many people heard me, but nobody did anything. Not you. You’re my hero,” she said, smiling. Klaus looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds, frowning. He ran a hand through his hair and nodded, uncomfortably shifting his weight from foot to foot.

* * *

“How far is the drive to your house?” she asked as they got in the car. Klaus had been pretty quiet on the walk back, and she didn’t want to pry.

“A few hours. I live on the west side of the country,” Klaus said. Caroline fiddled with the radio.

“What? A few hours to the other side of the country?”

“You Americans really forget how massive your nation is,” he said, shaking his head. She shrugged and skip through the stations.

“Go back,” he said. She did, and “Something” by the Beatles flooded the car. She watched him as he drove through the roads.

“I didn’t know you could drive stick,” she said.

“Kind of had to learn it this way first, sweetheart,” he replied.

“Right,” she murmured. She couldn’t imagine Klaus learning to drive. Really, learning any skill at all.

“Is there anything you don’t know how to do?” You know all these languages, you paint…”

“Don’t forget the manual transmission; that’s what really does it for the girls,” he said.

“Really… you’ve been alive for a thousand years. Have you just picked everything up?” she asked.

“You try everything after a while. Instruments, languages, whatever really feels right. But time doesn’t mean discipline. I’ve picked up and dropped a million things. I really only do the things I enjoy. What do you want to learn with all this time you have now?” he asked. Caroline noticed how he did that. He always turned every conversation back to her. He never wanted to talk about himself.

“When did you start drawing?” she asked.

“Why? Do you want to learn?”

“You once told me to get to know you,” she said.

“Yes, I remember. If I recall correctly, you were distracting me while you and your friends were plotting my demise,” he said.

“I recall no such thing,” she dismissed him, waving her hand. He smiled.

“I drew some when I was younger, but it wasn’t exactly work my father approved of. Later, I picked more up when I was in Italy during the Renaissance. You wouldn’t have believed the energy in the air all the time. New ideas were everywhere. I just started practicing, and I never stopped.”

“I’m jealous. You got to be around for these huge moments, meet all these cool people who aren’t around anymore.”

“You get to be here now. You never know what the time will be remembered for until you’re out of it,” he said, looking ahead at the road.

“Any guesses on what Europe in the 2010s will be remembered for?” Caroline asked.

“I know what I’ll remember it for. Ireland should thank you for being here,” he said. Caroline went quiet and looked at him. Klaus drummed his fingers along to the song on the steering wheel. She smiled and felt a warmth in her stomach.

She looked out the window and up at the stars. Her mind started to wander to her mom. By now, she would have found Caroline’s note telling her not to look for her and to ask Bonnie to work on an unlinking spell. She left her phone there, but picked up a new one and gave the number to Stefan only. She and Klaus gave themselves an hour to pack and get to the airport as fast as possible before Bonnie did anything crazy. She had no time to say goodbye, but maybe that was for the best. Her mom never would have let her go, and she never would have come along. Caroline wondered where Tyler was. Maybe if he fled to Europe too, she would see him again someday on the other side of some street and they would run to each other and everything would be okay. Tears came to her eyes and she wiped them away.

“It’s strange how I can feel your tears,” Klaus said. “I thought you had fun tonight, love.”

“You know, oddly enough, I did. I just— miss my mom,” she said.

“I’m sure she misses you, too.”

Caroline leaned her seat back and turned to face him. She shut her eyes.

“Are you sleeping?” he asked.

“I’ll try. I’m not good at sleeping in cars,” she said. Klaus shrugged off his jacket and handed it to her.

“Thanks,” she said, placing it under her head.

“Is this our thing now? Me giving you pillows?” he asked. She looked up at him playfully.

“We don’t have a thing,” she replied. He flashed a big grin.

She woke up to her name when dawn broke. When she opened her eyes, Klaus brushed her hair out of her face.

“We’re here, love,” he said. Caroline blinked the exhaustion from her eyes and realized she had drool on her face.

“Oh, God, that’s mortifying,” she groaned. Klaus laughed.

“So much for ‘I’m not good at sleeping in cars’. You can keep that, by the way” he said, getting out of the car. She wiped her mouth and stretched her arms. She looked out the window of the car to see something she didn’t expect. It wasn’t some giant, grandiose mansion. She saw a small cottage surrounded by open space on all sides. The sunny horizon and green hills contrasted the gloomy Dublin skies. She breathed the morning air deep in her lungs. She felt a gust of wind hit and shivered. She looked down into the car and spotted Klaus’s jacket. Well, if she could have it… She shrugged it on and flipped her hair so it draped over the back.

Her eyes fell on the horse roaming nearby.

“I should have known you wouldn’t want to start inside,” Klaus said, following her gaze. He went in the house while Caroline walked toward the brown horse. She approached him, putting her hand out for him to sniff. Suddenly, Klaus was next to her with a bag of carrots.

“Here. Become his best friend,” he said, handing her the carrots. Caroline took one out and placed it in her open palm. The horse took the carrot from her hand, lightly licking her palm. Caroline smiled, but grimaced.

“It’s ok, your hand matches your new jacket,” Klaus said, and Caroline laughed.

“What’s his name?” she asked.

“Beau.”

“Hi Beau,” Caroline said, petting the horse’s long face. Klaus just stood and watched her. Her blonde hair caught the rising sunlight, giving her a sort of glow. She had a glow about her all the time, of course, but the morning light enhanced it. He respected how much she’d been leaning into this new part of her life, but he knew she missed home. He didn’t necessarily understand it, but Caroline loved the small town life. She loved her high school, her existence, and every human part of it she clung to. She didn’t feel safe with him; he knew that. Maybe sometimes. She slept around him, anyway. But most of the time, she seemed on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for you to stick a wooden pole through her stomach or order a hybrid to bite her, a voice in his head said. He pushed it back. Here, with Beau, she was softened. Calm. Safe. He watched her feed the horse, pet him, and care for him, and Klaus fell in love with her again.

“I know you’re probably tired, but can I show you something while we still have dawn?”

“Yeah, sure. What’d you have in mind?” she asked absently, still entranced by Beau’s soft breathing.

Klaus reached out and touched her shoulder and Caroline startled. She looked at him, but didn’t brush him off.

“Come on,” he said, and started walking.

Twenty minutes later, they walked past several tour buses through a large parking lot.

“What is this?” she asked.

“A wonder of the world,” he replied. “Or, at least, it should be.”

They passed a visitor’s center. The Cliffs of Moher.

As they walked uphill, a clearing broke, and Caroline gasped. It was like they were near the edge of the Earth. She saw huge cliffs in a line overlooking the ocean. She got some speed in her step heading toward the water, and Klaus followed.

They walked along the cliff side, a short divider stood between them and the edge. As they approached the cliff on the end, Klaus approached the only man taking photos behind a lookout area.

“This area is closed for maintenance,” he told him. The man nodded in a daze and left. The lookout point shielded them from the eyes of the few early risers.

Klaus stepped over the divider and sat on the edge of the cliff. Caroline walked the area more, taking it in. The ocean spanned miles in front of her; she couldn’t see anything else. The cliffs made her feel simultaneously insignificant and wonderful. Every day she was special and near invincible. This place reminded her that the Earth was more powerful than she was. She looked back at Klaus, who sat patiently overlooking the water. He looked straight down at the water below. Caroline felt nervous tingles coat her arms. She hated heights.

“Scared, love?” Klaus said over his shoulder.

“God, you can’t feel that, right? I thought things like jitters were a no-go,” she said, walking up to the divider.

“You are radiating plenty of terror without our weird magical connection,” he said, looking back at her. “Aren’t you coming?”

“We’re not supposed to,” Caroline said, trying to keep her cool.

“Want to try a different excuse? That one can be a practice run.”

Caroline rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her.

“I’m not going to let you just Klaus me into doing something I don’t want to do,” she said.

“Did you just use my name as a verb ‘convince’? I’ll file that one away. I’m not trying to ‘Klaus’ you into anything; all I know is that, if we leave here, and you don’t come back for decades because there is a lot of world left, you are going to regret not sitting here. You’ll lie awake and wonder how beautiful it looked,” he said.

“Will I?” she asked, but Klaus didn’t say anything. He just looked out at the water. Caroline sighed and walked up. Her stomach turned as she stepped over the barrier and took a few steps to the edge. The wind whipped around her, but her heightened balance kept her steady. She sat on the edge next to Klaus, but kept her eyes closed. She took deep breaths and slowly opened her eyes.

They were on the edge of the world. She couldn’t see anything in front of her but water and the warm sky. She peered down over the edge and saw the ocean far down below.

“Wow,” she whispered. Far down below her, winds brought small waves up to the base of the cliff. She looked up and saw Klaus staring at her. Her stomach turned with nerves. She let out a short breath and averted eye contact. He looked down, disappointed.

“How many feet down is that?” she asked, clamoring for a way to fill the weighted silence. Klaus stood up and peered over the edge.

“I’m trying to remember… I think it was 700 feet?” he asked, unsure.

“Oh,” she said.

“You know, come to think of it, I think it’s 800. Maybe even 850?” He bent over the side looking down. He playfully pretended to trip and caught himself, smiling.

“Klaus, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Don’t worry, love. I’m sure our little link magic won’t spark for at least few seconds. I’m planning on, what did you say, crabwalking down?” Klaus said.

“No no no, we are not doing this,” Caroline said, standing.

“I’m pretty sure we are,” Klaus said, and he kicked off the rocks, throwing himself over the edge. Caroline gasped. God dammit. She took off Klaus’s jacket and slipped off her shoes. If she didn’t jump, then the magic would trigger. She would feel Klaus drown. She sighed, ran to the edge, and digging her nails into her palms, leapt off the side. The wind whipped against her body in free-fall. Suddenly, she felt the cold water hit her body even though she was still in the air. She felt herself falling through the sky and Klaus plunging into the water all at once. She took in deep lungs full of air as she felt the sensation of falling into the water. In her time as a vampire, this really was most amazing feeling she’d ever experienced. She was in two elements at once. She was swimming in the ocean. She was flying in free fall. Klaus broke the surface just as she fell in next to him.

Caroline’s floated in the water for a few seconds, feeling it surround her. The adrenaline coursed through her body as she came to the surface. She opened her eyes as she breathed in the salty air. Klaus gazed at her as she combed her wet blonde hair back with her fingers. She met his gaze and smiled.  
“That was awesome! Oh my God,” Caroline laughed. Klaus grinned back at her. It was in these moments she couldn’t deny how beautiful he was. Sure, he pulled off the signature vamp smirk, but his smile made her forget what he was for just a second. She felt a surge of butterflies in her stomach as the exhilaration settled and Klaus beamed at her.

“Fuck it’s cold. That was messed up, Klaus!” she said, laughing. She floated on her back and felt her hair float around her.

“Your lecturing might sound more convincing if you weren’t smiling so much. Besides, you started it using our situation to get me to go help that human,” he said.

“I used our link to go help a girl in an alley and you used it to get me to jump off an 850 foot cliff!” she said.

“Be fair, Caroline. That cliff is no higher than 700,” he said.

“What!?” she yelled, splashing him with water. “I didn’t even have to jump!?”

“But you loved it,” he said, splashing her back. She looked at him with feigned annoyance and he responded with his signature what are you going to do about it? Klaus look. Caroline swam up to him and playfully shoved him under the water. He caught her wrist and pulled her down with him and she felt herself submerge in the water. She laughed under the water and bubbles rose to the surface. They both swam to the top.

Caroline felt a pain in her wrist and winced. She felt around quickly, but there was nothing that cut her.

“Are you okay?” she asked, lifting his arm to inspect it.

“I’m fine, love, it was just a rock,” he said.

“No, Klaus, let me see,” she stopped him and watched the cut heal slowly. He smiled at her concern as she inspected his arm.

The blood… she’d barely fed in two days. Caroline’s eyes went dark at the smell. She caught herself and blushed as Klaus watched her with amusement.

“From worried about me to wanting to eat me?” he remarked.

“Sorry; I’m… it’s harder when you’re new,” she muttered as the cut completely closed up.

“It’s my fault. I didn’t consider how our… difference of opinion on feeding would affect this trip,” he said.

“Is that what we’re calling this being on the run so no hybrids separate us and kill me? Our trip?” she asked.

“Well, it rolls off the tongue better,” he said. She looked down. The hunger wouldn’t subside.

“If I haven’t been feeding you enough, love, let me make up for it,” Klaus said, biting into his own wrist. Caroline’s face showed her hunger as her eyes went dark.

“Damon told Elena that blood sharing is intimate,” she said.

“You’ve done it before,” he replied.

"To save my life..."

“We won’t talk about it again,” he said simply. Caroline’s instincts won out over her hesitance and she pushed him into the side of the cliff and they stood on the rocks at the base. He smiled at the dull pain in his back from the shove. She took his wrist in her mouth and drank deeply. Klaus’s hybrid blood always tasted different, but now that she wasn’t dying, she could appreciate how sweet it was. She’d had vampire blood before, but this was different. The wolf in him made him taste like honey. She smiled, thinking about her choices lately. The cider, the cotton candy, and now Klaus’s blood. Maybe her sweet tooth did reflect her age. She gripped his wet shirt in her other hand and she felt Klaus’s hand stroke her hair gently. Caroline let his wrist go and saw a single drop fall from the wound. She brought her finger to his forearm, took the drop onto her own, and licked it off her finger. When she glanced up at him, Klaus looked mesmerized.

She took in his wet hair and let eyes trail for just a moment. Perhaps it was the adrenaline from the jump, or the high from his blood, but she left her inhibitions unchecked, and let herself gaze at how his wet shirt clung to his body. She saw the water droplets fall from his eyelashes. She saw how smooth his skin was. She met his gaze and he looked at her with a question in his eyes.

They heard screams. Their heads whipped in its direction and found a young man falling off the ledge. Caroline gasped. She jumped into the water and started to swim toward him, but she knew she’d never make it in time. She was fast, but she wasn’t that fast, especially not in the water. Caroline felt a blur pass her and looked up. Klaus swam past her. She looked up to find Klaus jumping out of the water and narrowly catching the man before he hit the rocks. She followed quickly and saw the man trembling in Klaus’s arms.

“Are you okay?” she asked, panting.

“I was just taking a picture, but the wind… I think I broke my arm when I hit the side,” he said, groaning in pain.

“Well, let this serve as a reminder, then, to avoid the edge of giant cliffs,” Klaus said, setting the man down. Caroline gave him a disapproving look and walked by him. She looked in the man’s eyes.

“You aren’t going to remember this. You’re going to drink my blood then wait here for search and rescue. You don’t know how you survived. It was a miracle,” she whispered, then broke her skin with her teeth and fed him her blood. The man nodded in a daze, sat on the rock, and waited. Caroline looked up at Klaus, who looked almost as surprised at himself as she felt.

“I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of it from you,” he said quickly. She raised her eyebrows.

“Uh-huh. Let’s go back and tell someone he’s alive,” she said and they started back in the direction of where they jumped. On the climb back up, they bickered about nothing and everything. He hid a grin when he saw her put his jacket back on.

“I’m cold,” she said. He raised his eyebrows.

“Uh-huh.”

When they finished compelling the employee at the visitors center, they walked until they were out of sight of the tourists, then ran back to the house to dry off in the wind. They were mostly dry by the time they got to the porch.

“I’ll admit, I’m curious what the inside will look like. Is it just your house or do you all share it?” she asked. Klaus unlocked the door and opened it for her.

“Well, Rebekah doesn’t come up much, but—,” he stopped in his tracks. Caroline looked up and followed his gaze.

Elijah stood in the kitchen, looking at them with confusion.

“Niklaus?” he asked.

“Brother. What are you doing here?” Klaus asked. Caroline walked in after him. Shit. Shit shit shit. Elena might have her weird Elijah bond going on, but she didn’t forget when Elijah teamed up with them to kill Klaus before. If he found out they were linked, would he—

“I was looking for you. Have you found Tyler?” Elijah asked.

“What? No,” Klaus said.

“I was tracking him here…” Elijah trailed off. Caroline’s stomach lurched. Tyler was here in Ireland? She needed to get Klaus away as fast as possible.

“You’re telling me I happened to come to the one tiny country that Tyler Lockwood fled to?” Klaus asked skeptically.

“I heard reports of a vampire vigilante with yellow eyes who helped a woman last night. I was hoping you’d be close behind him so we could talk,” Elijah said, confused. Caroline relaxed. Tyler wasn’t here. She felt a mixture of disappointment and relief. She was sure all of the relief was for his safety. There was a twinge, though, of something else.

“That was us,” she said.

“Caroline, how are you? My apologies for any confusion. What are you two doing here?” Elijah asked. Caroline and Klaus looked at each other quickly. They agreed on the plane; the fewer people who know, the better.

Caroline reached her hand out and took Klaus’s, weaving their fingers together.

“I can admit when I’m wrong. I just finally accepted what we both knew the whole time,” she smiled at Klaus. He had an incredible poker face, holding his expression with no surprise. Elijah, on the other hand, beamed with happy shock.

“Niklaus! I’m so happy for you,” he smiled. He walked up to the pair and hugged Caroline. “Welcome to the family, Caroline.”

She hugged him back with her free arm tentatively. Maybe Elena had the right idea befriending him. Caroline felt Klaus’s thumb stroke hers and she felt flutters in her stomach, followed by a wave of guilt. She pushed Tyler out of her mind. It’s just a cover story. Elijah let Caroline go and she saw emotions all over his face. He took a deep breath.

“Kol would have been delighted, brother,” he said, looking at Klaus. They both got quiet and Caroline felt a pang of sympathy for the pair.

“How about I go shower and let you two have a few minutes?” she said softly, letting go of Klaus’s hand.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t see any of your things in the master—,” Elijah started.

“Human must have put her things in the guest by mistake. We can take that room anyway. Let me show you to the bathroom, Caroline,” Klaus said, walking down a small hallway. Caroline nodded, trying to remain calm.

They walked down a small hallway. Unsurprisingly, there weren’t family photos on the walls, but small frames and tokens from different travels through the world. Klaus turned left into a guest bedroom and she followed him inside. She took Klaus’s jacket off and laid it on the a queen sized bed. When she looked up, he’d started the shower in the bathroom. She walked over and whispered beneath the volume of the water hitting the tub.

“We can take that room anyway!? We!?” she whisper-shouted.

“You’re the one who came up with the cover story, love. What fast thinking. Must have had something on your mind,” he whispered back.

“As if, Klaus. What are we going to do?” she asked.

“I thought I’d start with going to go have a drink with Elijah to remember our dead brother,” Klaus said sternly. She nodded.

“Okay. I’m going to check my phone and see if Stefan’s sent any updates on if Bonnie’s helping us, or…”

“Dropping the veil, illustrating her complete disregard for both of our lives?” Klaus asked, deadpan.

“Or if she’s consumed by grief and will get to us later I’m sure,” she snapped. He put his hands up innocently and walked out. Caroline sighed and closed the door behind him.

The brothers sipped drinks in quiet. Klaus tried not to think about Caroline in the shower as he felt the water on their skin. He tried even harder not to think about her in the bedroom as he felt the cold air on her hot skin and the towel as she dried off. He cleared his throat and took another drink. A few minutes later, Caroline walked out into the living room. She looked exhausted, but in better spirits. She sat close to Klaus on a couch across from Elijah and gave him a small shake of her head. No news from Stefan.

“So, Elijah, how is Rebekah doing? Or are you checking on Klaus first?” Caroline asked, taking a drink from Klaus’s glass. He placed his hand on her thigh, stroking her leg with his finger.

“Let me get you a drink, Caroline,” Elijah said, standing. As he turned his back to them to make her a drink, she quietly smacked Klaus’s hand. He grinned with amusement. She furiously shook her head and he mockingly nodded. She stuck her finger in his face and gave him a warning look. As Elijah turned back around, Klaus put his hand right back on her leg, and Caroline smiled up at him. She took Klaus’s hand in hers and squeezed hard, until it hurt too much for her to bear anymore. She guided his hand to her knee, and he smiled, leaving it there.

“Truth be told, Niklaus, I did not come looking for you because of Kol,” Elijah said, sighing and placing the drink in front of Caroline.

“What is it, Elijah?” Klaus took his hand from Caroline’s knee and leaned forward, all business now.

“I wanted to speak with you about Katerina,” Elijah said. Klaus was up and had Elijah by the collar in a flash.

“Do you know where she is?” Klaus asked.

“She wants to make a deal. The cure for her freedom,” Elijah said, pushing Klaus off of him.

“Where is she?” Klaus hissed. Caroline leapt up at the sound of her phone ringing. She looked down at her phone and saw Stefan’s name.

“Klaus, stop. It’s Stefan,” she said. Klaus angrily stepped away from his brother and sat down. Caroline answered the phone.

“Hey Stefan,” she said, trying to keep her voice controlled and her mind off the feuding originals two feet from her.

“Caroline, don’t tell me where you are,” Stefan started.

“That would kind of defeat the point of nobody knowing where we are,” Caroline said, rolling her eyes.

“Look, I don’t have a lot of time. Bonnie is dropping the veil tonight. It’s been… a hectic 24 hours,” he said. Caroline’s heart sank. The hybrids would be back. She could hear the exhaustion in her best friend’s voice.

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly.

“I’m fine. But I’m betting the hybrids are coming for you and Klaus. Bonnie and I haven’t told anybody what you two are doing, not even Elena and Damon, but you need to watch your back. Rebekah told me that Elijah is going to Ireland to track down Tyler. Assuming the hybrids are watching us, they might want to track down their leader first. Be careful.”

“I will.” Stefan hung up suddenly, tending to whatever crisis was next. Caroline looked up in Klaus’s panicked eyes. He immediately ran to the bedroom and started packing Caroline’s things. She and Elijah followed.

“We need to get you out of here,” Klaus said firmly.

“Niklaus, I don’t understand; why are you afraid of the hybrids? Surely you showed you have no reason to be,” Elijah asked, stunned.

“All they have to do is separate me and Caroline for a moment and it’s over for her,” Klaus said, gathering Caroline’s things from the shower and putting them in her bag. Elijah smiled softly.

“I’ve never seen you so concerned for the life of another, Niklaus. I’m impressed,” he said. Caroline looked down. Elijah’s comment stung. Klaus was looking out for himself.

“What if Katerina and I help you take care of your hybrids? You get the cure and Caroline will be safe. I will meet Katerina in Mystic Falls and we will try to head some of them off,” Elijah said. He was desperate to get Katherine’s freedom. Klaus stopped packing and let out a long breath through his nose. He thought for a moment. Katherine had contacts keeping her hidden for centuries. She could probably keep track of some of his enemies better than he could.

“The hybrids die. I get the cure. And you two help protect Caroline for the next year,” Klaus said slowly. There was no negotiation left. It was this or Katherine’s death.

“Protect her from what?” Elijah asked, confused.

“Anybody who may come for her,” Klaus said. Elijah nodded. Klaus was being paranoid, yes, but perhaps Elijah had just never seen his brother in true love before.

“Deal,” he said. Caroline groaned.

“Great. Katherine Pierce: my own personal bodyguard. She’s the one who killed me, Klaus!” she said, sitting and fuming.

“Good thing she doesn’t need to be likable to help keep you safe, then,” Klaus said, zipping up her bag. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Caroline suspected it was the hard seat at the airport gate that pushed her over the edge. She’d been trying to hold it together for hours, but as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, she realized sleep was unattainable. Here she was, watching the man who had killed and hurt so many people in her life, compel their way into first class across the room. She felt her chest tighten. She missed home. She missed her mom. There was no end in sight, and, now, she couldn’t sleep. She wanted to jump out of her skin. _I’m having a panic attack_ , she realized. She’d only ever had one other, on Tyler’s lawn after Damon tried to kill her and Elena held her in her arms.

Suddenly, Klaus was next to her. He sat next to her.

“What’s wrong, Caroline?” he asked, smart enough to not touch her, but wanting to anyway. Caroline responded through shaky breaths and tearful eyes.

“What, you mean, besides everything?” she said back. If she meant for there to be bite in her voice, she failed.

“Maybe you can narrow it down for me.” Caroline looked into his eyes and, a part of her she was not ready to admit existed, melted some. How could the owner of those eyes have drowned Carol? What did they look like when he felt the life drain from her?

“Nothing. I’m just exhausted.”

“If you want to sleep, I’ll tell you when it’s time to go,” he said. Caroline felt herself relax a little bit, but the air was still difficult to get in her lungs. She took several deep breaths.

“I can’t. I can’t sleep in a chair like this. Mom says it’s my curse. She and dad can sleep anywhere. Whenever we’d travel, they were out like a light the second the plane took off. But I can’t, not unless I can stretch my legs. And I need a pillow.” Caroline felt calmer talking about her mom, but the dull pain in her heart sharpened. She didn’t know when she would see her again.

“Only the highest of luxuries for you, huh? A pillow and a place to stretch your legs?” Klaus asked. Caroline gave a small smile back, but the tears spilled from her eyes suddenly, fast and hard. She leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees, and sobbed into her hands.

“Come on, love, I can be both,” Klaus said, almost too quietly for her to hear. Caroline looked up from her hands, her mascara smudged below her eyes.

“What?” she asked, wiping her eyes.

Klaus took a deep breath and raised the divider between their chairs. Caroline looked at him and, after a few quiet moments, nodded slightly. I’m just exhausted, she thought, I would lean on anybody right now. I’d lean on Damon fucking Salvatore if he were in this chair.

Caroline moved a little and folded her legs over his. She leaned her head down softly onto his shoulder and closed her eyes. He smelled nice. Not like in the books. He didn’t smell like sandalwood or some nice cologne. Just Klaus. She felt soft tears fall from her the corners of her eyes onto his shoulder.

He held himself back from leaning into her blonde curls. He didn’t want to scare her away. He tried to stay still and let her be. All of his rage and frustration from the last twelve hours melted slowly.

Caroline opened her eyes and saw Klaus’s left arm folded over his lap, careful not to touch her legs. She’d never been so close to him like this. He always wore long sleeves, but now they were rolled up to his elbows. In this moment, fixating on his arm was all that was keeping her together. His forearm was paler than she expected. Blue veins traveled under his skin. She hesitated before she reached her hand out, and traced them with a single finger. She would never quite get used to the feeling of sharing the same sensations as him. She felt the same patterns she traced on him on her own arm.

Klaus could hear her breathing slow. He didn’t feel like they were in an airport. He didn’t feel exposed or vulnerable. They were alone in the world. He suddenly felt a jolt and he squirmed. Caroline let out a frantic giggle. She clapped her hand over her mouth.

“Are you ticklish?” she asked, amused. He couldn’t hold back a smile.

“No. I’m the original hybrid. I don’t get ticklish,” he said with half joking pride. Caroline traced her finger back over the same spot on his wrist and his body recoiled.

“Oh my God, this is fantastic,” she laughed, touching the same spot, though she squirmed too. Where he was ticklish, so was she now. Klaus yanked his arm from her.

“You’re only hurting yourself here!” he grinned.

“I accept the consequences,” she said, reaching for his wrist. He held his arm far out of her reach and pushed her back. They both were reminded of when he held her Miss Mystic application out of her reach. She looked at his smiling face and laughed, conceding. She leaned back into her old position, resting her head back on his shoulder. He put his arm back. She drummed the tips of her fingers along his forearm to the beat of a song stuck in her head. As her finger moved down to his wrist, he flashed her a warning look. She looked back up at him.

“No more; I promise,” she swore and smiled.

Caroline took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting him ground her. She slowly drifted into a half-sleep, which was about as much as she could hope for under the circumstances. Klaus wouldn’t sleep for hours. He didn’t want to miss a moment of this.


	3. Paris

Katherine sighed as she kicked off her heels and crawled in bed with Elijah.

“Anything?” he asked, running his fingers through her hair.

“Nope. I threatened, I begged, I punched everyone who could tell me anything. It’s been two weeks since Sabrina dropped the veil, Elijah. The hybrids aren’t in Mystic Falls,” she said. She rolled over and rested her head on his chest, dropping her arm around his waist.

“And they aren’t in Ireland. So they’re looking for Tyler Lockwood or…”

“Or they’re already watching Klaus and Caroline. Let’s hope it’s not some mysterious door number three,” she looked up at Elijah and felt a soft smile on her lips.

“Quite a situation to smile at,” Elijah said.

“It’s not that… I’m just happy. It’s not how I imagined spending my first couple weeks of freedom, but for the first time I’m not running,” she said, stretching her legs out.

“Elena isn’t striking much fear in your heart, I see,” he replied, lightly grazing her back with his nails.

“Elena? Sweet girl, but not the sharpest tool. I’m sure she’s running in circles. Besides, her lame revenge mission will have to wait. We have to go meet Klaus in… where are they?” she asked.

“Paris, I think.”

“Poor Caroline, running around Europe with her new man while her friends spiral here. However will she manage without us?”

“He’s just… protective,” Elijah said. He placed a kiss on her head and got out of bed. He walked to his closet to pick an outfit.

“Protective or crazy? Since when did Caroline Forbes need the Elena treatment of vampire brother security? She’s annoying, and not very bright, but she can take care of herself. But I learned a while ago that it’s a waste trying to understand his psychopathic brain…” Katherine said, sprawling out on the mattress. Elijah sighed as he put on pants.

“What’s wrong?” Katherine asked him.

“Nothing,” he muttered, walking to the closet to pick a shirt. Katherine raised an eyebrow at him and waited. He walked back to the bed and sat next to her.  
“I know that Niklaus has done nothing to earn your forgiveness. I just wish that, someday, the woman I love and my brother can…”

“Be friends? Sit around the Christmas fire?” She ran her thumb across his cheek.

“If you could kill him, you would. You wouldn’t abstain for me, would you?” Elijah asked. Katherine recoiled, hurt.

“You think I could do that to you?” she asked, though even she didn’t know the answer.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter either way. My brother’s pursuit of immortality has finally paid off for him,” Elijah said. He got back up and grabbed a black shirt. Katherine sped out of bed and grabbed a blue one from his closet.

“It’s Paris, not a funeral,” she said, smirking. Elijah pulled her into a long hug.

* * *

Caroline hung up the phone and fell backward onto their red couch. Fury surged through her whole body. She heard the front door open and Klaus walked into their apartment.

“Nothing like a tantrum first thing in the morning,” he said, kicking off his shoes. He placed her usual coffee order on the table next to her and grabbed a throw pillow off the couch. He tossed it to her and she shoved it to her face and screamed hard into it. After a few seconds, she put it back and sighed.

“You could feel it? Shit.” She fumed and stared up at the ceiling.

“The blind rage? Yeah, it hit me at the shop downstairs. Poor chap thought he offended me,” he said. These occurrences became increasingly common as the days went by. If one of them felt an emotion so consuming it took them over, the other felt it, too. When Caroline sobbed herself to sleep missing her mother, Klaus felt the worst sorrow he’d experienced in decades. When he flew into a fit of anger, Caroline struggled to keep herself from throwing dishes at the wall. Once, his longing for her crept up in her own chest. It was enough to fill her with happiness and destroy her with guilt. Stefan always talked about how heightened their feelings were, but Caroline hadn’t experienced it too often. When Elena turned, she was a wreck for weeks. With the reverberation of both her and Klaus, though, there were just a couple of times that were enough to penetrate the both of them. They tried not to talk about it; it felt rude and invasive.

“I told Bonnie; she’s getting to it,” Caroline said.

“How nice of her,” Klaus remarked. He knew he could get somebody to go kidnap or threaten the witch. He could probably even find another one. The second he did, though, Caroline would run. There were days he wanted nothing more than to sever the ties that bound them together; he hated being so vulnerable. Some days, though, he looked at her and he thought the spell may have been the best thing to ever happen to him. Today was one of those days.

Klaus lifted Caroline’s legs, sat on the couch, and set them back down on his lap. Small gestures like this had also become common place over the last couple of weeks. Since her panic attack in the airport, she had to admit he was there for her. She could even rely on him sometimes. He translated for her, though she insisted on learning as much French as she could (so far she had “please”, “thank you”, “hello”, and “goodbye”, which Klaus liked to remind her she knew beforehand). They argued, of course, but they’d found their groove, including their morning coffee.

“What happened?” he asked Caroline as she glared at the ceiling. She crossed her arms and squeezed them with her fingertips. She wanted to punch somebody.

“Humanity-less Elena being a bitch as usual,” she spat. None of her friends knew about her link with Klaus but Bonnie and Stefan, and it had miraculously stayed that way. It gave Elena all the free reign to snag Stefan’s phone from him once in a while and taunt Caroline about what an awful friend she was. Walking away right when Jeremy died so you could go fuck Klaus in Tokyo or New Zealand or wherever you are? Nice, Caroline.

“She’s hurt,” Klaus shrugged.

“She’s not hurt. She’s not anything. That’s the whole point. She’s just saying it because she knows it will hurt me. All because Elena’s sire-whipped ass turned her humanity off at Damon’s request. Did I mention what a stupid idea that was?” Caroline vented.

“Once or twice,” Klaus said, taking a sip of his coffee. Caroline finally looked at him.

“I’m sorry; is this boring for you?” she asked, sitting up.

“On the contrary, please continue to talk about what a mistake Elena made choosing Damon over Stefan. I can’t get enough.” She looked at him and burst into laughter. He frowned.

“What?” he asked. Caroline continued to laugh. It was infectious. The corners of his mouth trembled, threatening to break into a smile. “For God’s sakes, Caroline, what are you laughing at?”

“You’re jealous! Of Stefan? Please, Klaus,” she laughed. He relaxed.

“I’m just saying; it seemed like—,” he started, but she kept laughing anyway. Klaus smiled. Okay. Maybe he didn’t have to worry about that. Caroline’s laughter calmed down and she sipped her coffee.

“Remember when you compelled all of those people and told them that the Mona Lisa was boring and they wanted to look somewhere else?” she asked.

“I wanted you to see it up close,” he shrugged. She smiled and he could see the stress from Elena’s call melt off her shoulders. He loved seeing her like this. No makeup, messy hair, in her pajamas, and just a little bit irritated. He noticed how her tank top was just a little see through and how it clung to her chest. He forced himself to look away before she smacked him.

“What do you want to do today, love?” he asked.

“We could get those macaroons from that one place. The ones we had on the Notre Dame roof?”

“You always want those,” he said. She pouted at him and he sighed.

“Okay. Macaroons. But only if you try escargot.” he offered.

“Snails!? Pass.”

“Caroline, you’re in France! You cannot just eat macaroons. You need to at least try this staple,” he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. She made the same look she made when she tried the Guinness.

“Yeah, I remember all the times I looked at a snail on the ground and thought ‘Wow that looks super appetizing’,” she said. Klaus held eye contact with her, refusing to back down. Caroline sighed and broke.

“Fine. Let’s go to that fancy church museum thing you were telling me about. Then we will come back, and we can get dinner, and I will try one bite of one snail. But only if we get the macaroons after,” she said. Klaus nodded and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. The bottom of his shirt rose with him and revealed a peak of skin. Caroline loved when he rolled his sleeves to his elbows and stretched like that. She felt the color rush to her face and a gentle throbbing between her legs. Perhaps the worst part of their link is that she was convinced he would know if she touched herself. It had been weeks, running around Europe with, as much as it pained her to admit it, an extraordinarily gorgeous man. She was losing her mind.

Caroline got up, went into her bathroom, undressed, and turned the shower on freezing cold. The second she stood under the water, she heard a familiar yelp from the living room. Klaus banged his fist on her bathroom door.

“You could warn me next time!” he shouted through the door. You didn’t warn me when you did the stretch shirt lift thing, she thought to herself.

“I thought you could handle it!” she shouted back.

“I’m going a little crazy, too, love, but you know there are easier ways—,” he started.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I am just in the mood for a nice freezing shower!”

“Love, you have many wonderful qualities, but I don’t know if ‘low maintenance’ is one of them. You insist on the steam and the expensive soaps.” He remembered all the hours he walked through fancy soap shops when they decided to stay for a while.

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do. Now, go. This is a solo practice.” Caroline loved using his own words against him. Klaus shook his head and walked back to the living room. He hadn’t been this happy in decades. Maybe even centuries.

By the time Caroline finished getting ready, Klaus had been sketching on their couch for a while. Just like every time Caroline walked in the room, his head snapped straight up to look at her. Today she wore a loose blouse and tight jeans. She was ravishing. She walked to the kitchen and cut up a baguette they got from the bakery downstairs.

“I don’t know why you think these sporadic freezing cold showers of yours are any more subtle than just giving in,” Klaus said as he drew.

“Well, one involves throwing buckets of cold water over your head and the other involves you getting to experience the awesomeness that is a woman’s orgasm, which is like the one thing we have over you guys, so…” she said, spreading jam onto toast for the two of them.

“You’re holding out to spite me?” Klaus laughed. She brought the toast out on a plate and set it on the coffee table, sitting on the couch opposite him. She smiled. Sure, holding off masturbating was mostly about avoiding nightmare level embarrassment, but she loved messing with him. She shrugged innocently and they ate breakfast in a silence with an undercurrent of what they both knew. Whether it was the link or the natural consequence of weeks alone together in a romantic city, every night the temptation to cross the living space into the other’s bedroom grew stronger.

* * *

Caroline liked when they got away from the main tourist areas like this. They weaved through the streets of a small neighborhood and the usual bits of English surrounding them dissipated. They turned a corner onto a street with several small cafes and other food vendors. The wind carried the water from a nearby fountain and blew a mist onto Caroline’s face. She closed her eyes and breathed in the moment. She wondered if she would ever get tired of feeling so present. Yes, she missed her mom. She missed Tyler. She missed home. But there was something about being here, somewhere she’d only ever seen in movies, feeling the water on her face, hearing the chatter around her, that made her feel like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Klaus put his hand on her back to get her attention and pointed to a giant church. She raised her eyebrows. In some ways, it looked out of place in such a normal area. The street was a little dirty and bikes lazily leaned against sign posts. Really, though, the church fit perfectly. The large tan structure, enclosed by a black iron gate with golden spikes, made her appreciate how old this city was. Giant pieces of history were placed in the middle of every day life.

The Val-de-Grace entrance towered over them. She took a brochure, but it was entirely in French. Klaus took the paper from her, folded it up, and put it in his pocket.  
“So you don’t have to carry it,” he said, shrugging. She nodded her thanks.

They walked through white stone archways together, the natural light pouring in through the windows. Klaus watched Caroline gawk at the old architecture. They wandered through the outdoor courtyard. A fountain spurted water in the middle of carefully designed hedges.

“It’s pretty, but I think Monet ruined all gardens for me,” Caroline said. Klaus grinned. He couldn’t believe it when she agreed to accompany him to Giverny to see Claude Monet’s house. Monet was his favorite painter. A few of his own paintings were inspired by Monet’s water lilies pieces. To see Caroline walking across the bridge featured in those paintings was one of the most surreal moments of his existence. It paled in comparison to Caroline falling asleep with her head in his lap on the train ride home.

The pair walked back inside and took in some of the exhibits in the building. Caroline gazed up at the chandelier in the library. Books lined the second story and Caroline noticed a ladder along the shelves.

“Oh my God, do you ride that, like in Beauty and the Beast?” Caroline whispered. Klaus tried not to laugh. He tried harder not to reach for her hand.  
A middle-aged couple walked in behind them. The man was balding and wore a grey hoodie. When his wife shivered, he took it off and gave it to her, without thought. She slipped it on and took his hand. Their fingers interlaced as they walked the perimeter of the room. Caroline and Klaus both took their eyes off the books and instead watched the couple. Neither of them wanted the cure, they knew that, but they both felt individual pangs of longing. Klaus never wanted to grow old, but, as he watched the couple, an intrusive thought crossed his mind. He imagined giving Caroline his own hoodie. He imagined Caroline’s blonde curls turned grey and deep laugh lines from a life of teasing each other.  
They walked down into the main area of the old church and Caroline gasped. The ceiling was painted intricately with clouds and angels. The marble on the ceiling was sculpted into gorgeous scenes.

“Can you imagine doing something like that?” she asked Klaus, pointing to the engraved walls.

“Michelangelo believed his sculptures existed already, inside the marble, waiting to come out,” Klaus said.

“You don’t believe that,” she said.

“Well, I knew better than to argue with him. He was a little…” Klaus trailed off, making a circular motion around his temple with his index finger. Caroline laughed in disbelief.

“One of these days I want a list of all the cool people you’ve met over the years,” she said. Klaus opened his mouth to reply when he saw a woman staring at him from across the room. Caroline followed his eyes and frowned.

“Who’s that?” she asked, frowning. She felt inexplicably territorial. He looked back at her and smirked.

“Green is your best color,” he said before looking back to the woman. She continued to stare. Then, so subtly he almost missed it, she gestured for him to follow her outside. Klaus whispered faintly in Caroline’s ear.

“Stay close to me.” Caroline ignored the shiver down her spine and followed him outside.

The woman stood at the base of the stairs with her arms crossed.

“Do I know you?” Klaus asked her. She shook her head.

“My name is Renee. I’m a witch from Leon. I recognized you. I couldn’t not meet the original hybrid,” she said. She glanced over to Caroline. The look in the witch’s eyes sent nerves through Caroline’s stomach.

“Well, always nice to meet a fan,” he said. Caroline could feel his caution in his rigid stance. She put her hand on his arm. Renee eyed them knowingly.

“I can feel the magic on you two,” she said. Klaus’s eyes narrowed.

“And what makes you think I won’t kill you where you stand?” he asked.

“Because I told you. You can trust me,” the witch said.

“Now, I know we’ve never met, so how should I really expect you to know this, but I’m a distrusting person by nature,” he said.

“What if I told you I know where you can find the key to undoing it?” Renee asked. Caroline dropped her hand from Klaus’s arm. Could this be over? She felt hope surge through her. He felt her hope, too. His heart sank, but he didn’t show it on his face.

“I would say you’re bluffing,” Klaus said. Renee shook her head.

“The link between you two is old French magic. There is a fix buried beneath the city,” she said.

“How convenient. Magic from the same country I arbitrarily chose. What are the odds?” Klaus asked.

“Where is it?” Caroline asked. Klaus went white.

“In the catacombs, not far from where the tours stop. Dominique Laurent’s grimoires are down there with some other books and elixirs,” Renee replied. Caroline narrowed her eyes.  
“Why would there just be magic supplies sitting down there?” she asked.

“Excellent question, love. Ten points to sanity,” Klaus said.

“Think of it as a magical library. There aren’t as many covens in our country anymore, not as many as yours. We prefer to share supplies and secrets than take them for ourselves,” Renee said. Klaus rolled his eyes.

“Excuse us for a moment,” he said, pulling Caroline aside. He didn’t let Renee out of his sight, flicking his eyes back up to her every few seconds.

“We have to try, Klaus,” Caroline whispered.

“We don’t have to do anything. I don’t recall ‘follow creepy witch’s instructions down into the catacombs’ on the list for today. This isn’t escargot!”

“Don’t you think if she wanted to kill us she’d do that perpetual aneurysm thingie on us and take my ring off?” she asked.

“He won’t be waiting there when you get back,” Klaus spat. Caroline recoiled.

“No. You don’t get to do that. You know there’s more than that,” she said.

“But he’s part of it,” he said. Caroline opened her mouth, but no words came. He was right. There was no denying something changed between her and Klaus. A friendship. Maybe more. But she never stopped loving Tyler. Klaus glowered.

“Fine. You don’t want to be here with me. I don’t want to be here with you. Let’s go,” he growled. He grabbed Caroline’s elbow and pulled her along with him back to Renee. The man she knew the last couple of weeks faded back behind the hybrid.

“Tell me exactly where this book is. I don’t think I need to say this, but just in case you are stupid— if you are misleading us in any way, I will rip your spine out of your throat.”

* * *

The walk to the Catacombs was filled with tense silence. Caroline couldn’t believe he was so angry with her for wanting to go home. Wasn’t the whole point to run until they got it fixed? Could he not get over himself for two seconds? Klaus glowered. Tyler fucking Lockwood. Always him. They were stuck in a reverberating resentment-filled loop, feeling each other’s hurt. Caroline felt his shame from the rejection, and a deep shame rose in her stomach. Klaus didn’t comment. He didn’t need her pity.

Caroline easily compelled the guide to stop the tour one turn shy of where they needed to go. If Renee’s instructions were right, there were black gates closing off paths to the tourists. They needed to follow the guide to the third gate they passed, get through it, and find the spell book not far from there. As the pair descended into the catacombs, Caroline bowed her head sadly. She had wanted to come here so badly. They’d been planning on coming in the next couple of days, but, ever since the werewolves kidnapped her and put her in that cage, enclosed spaces made her anxious.

She told Klaus a couple of days prior about her claustrophobia and how nervous she was to go. He promised he would stay close. She daydreamed more than a couple of times about walking arm and arm through the underground paths. Now, he walked ahead of her, hands deep in his pockets, looking at the walls of bones by himself. She took her jacket off to help her breathe through the anxiety, but the cold being underground gave her goosebumps.

Klaus looked up, feeling her anxiety. He sighed and walked over to her. He pointed to the jacket, his expression confused.

“It’s too tight,” she whispered. She fought back the tears in her eyes. She hated that she cried when she was scared or angry. Klaus pulled his sweater off with the back of its neck and handed it to her. He straightened his long-sleeve underneath.

“It’ll be looser on you,” he said simply. Caroline looked up at him, bewildered, and put the sweater on. Klaus started to walk away, but she grabbed his arm. He turned to face her. She didn’t know what she wanted to do next logically, but she knew what her gut was telling her. Before she could overthink it, she pulled him into a hug. Her arms wrapped around his neck. She clutched his right shoulder with her right hand and pressed herself to him, burying her face in his neck.

Klaus froze for a moment. He didn’t remember the last time he’d been hugged, let alone like this. He pulled her in and wrapped his arm around her waist. He brought his other hand up to brush the tips of her curls down her back. They stood there for a moment, standing in the middle of the towers of bones, holding each other. Caroline pulled away and smiled up at him.  
“Thank you for the sweater,” she said. Klaus’s breath caught at her expression and he felt his frustration melt away.

“Yeah, well. I love you even when I hate you,” he said. Caroline felt butterflies rush to her stomach. He brushed her hair with one hand quickly before collecting his face. “Besides, if this is a ruse to get out of trying the escargot, I can’t really blame you for the dedication.” Caroline shook her head, smiling. The two walked past the second gate. It wouldn’t be far now.

“This is as far as I can take you, folks,” said the tour guide, and she herded the confused tourists back where they came from. Klaus and Caroline slipped passed them all and walked farther down the path. They looked at each other. No going back now. They each grabbed the bottom of the gate on either side and lifted it swiftly, walking beneath it. The pair walked tentatively through the low lit hall. Klaus held Caroline’s elbow in his hand as they moved.

In an instant, Caroline felt a needle in her neck. Before either of them could turn, they both fell to the ground, barely conscious.

“Wow. I can’t believe it worked,” a voice said. A man lit a gas lamp and placed it in the corner. He had a wooden stake in his hand. Klaus could barely move and watched helplessly as the man dragged Caroline away from him. She groaned, feeling the vervain travel through her veins.

“Who are you?” Klaus asked slowly, willing himself to get up.

“You don’t remember me? There’s a shock,” the man said. He bent down to Caroline and grabbed her hand. He pressed the stake to her palm and watched as they both winced. Blood pooled in both Klaus and Caroline’s palms.

“Unreal. They were right,” he said.

“Who sent you?” Klaus asked. He managed to drag himself toward Caroline, but the man kicked Caroline hard in the stomach. She shouted out and fell on her side. Klaus rolled over onto his back in pain.

“Matthew?” Klaus asked, confused. He squinted and looked at the man’s face. He looked different centuries later.

“There it is!” Matthew said. He grabbed Caroline by the back of her hair and looked in her eyes. “She’s a pretty one, Klaus. Where can I get me a linking spell? Then again, I guess there are some downsides,” he said. He slammed Caroline’s face into the wall behind her. She screamed and spat out blood.

“Touch her again and I will end you,” Klaus growled. He could feel Caroline’s pain all over his face, though his skin remained unmarred by the hit.

“I recall you laughing when I said something similar all those years ago,” Matthew said. Caroline barely held onto consciousness, but tried to stay awake. She reached her hand out toward Klaus, begging him to do something. Matthew picked up her hand and placed it between his own. In a swift motion, he snapped it, breaking it. Caroline and Klaus let out a simultaneous cry of pain.

“I’m almost saddened by this arrangement. I wanted to watch you see her die,” the vampire said, shaking his head. “Do you even remember why you killed her? My Emily?”

“She crossed me,” Klaus said.

“Don’t they all?” Matthew asked. He raised the stake up to stab Caroline. “Goodbye, Klaus.” As Matthew’s arm came down, he felt himself thrown back against the wall and the stake fall from his hand. He looked down into the face of Katherine Pierce.

Elijah ran to his brother’s side and helped him sit up. He looked at his brother with confusion. There wasn’t a mark on him, and vervain didn’t effect him, but he looked like death.

“Matthew! I thought I recognized you,” Katherine said, holding Matthew up against a wall by his throat.

“Katherine,” he choked out. He’d helped Katherine evade Klaus in Belgium years back. She moved to pull his heart from his chest.

“Wait! Wait. Katherine, they’re linked. If you kill her, you kill him. Don’t you want your revenge?” he asked. Katherine looked down at a beaten Caroline then to Klaus. She met Elijah’s eyes.  
“No, Katerina, don’t,” he whispered. She made a sudden movement and Elijah recoiled, preparing for the worst. When he looked up, she’d grabbed the stake and driven it through Matthew’s heart. Katherine stepped toward Caroline and hoisted her up, paying careful attention not to touch her mangled hand, and draped Caroline’s arm over her shoulder.

“Let’s get them out,” she said. Elijah looked up at her. The love in his eyes screamed at her. She smiled at him. She loved proving him wrong.

* * *

Katherine and Elijah brought the pair back to the apartment. The vervain started to fade as they walked up to the door.

“How’d you find us?” Caroline asked weakly. Elijah opened the door to Renee’s dead body in the kitchen. “Oh.”

“We found her ransacking Klaus’s things. We think she was looking for the cure,” Katherine said, helping Caroline onto the couch. Klaus fell next to Caroline.

“Like I’d leave it in my luggage,” he said, putting his feet up on the coffee table. “What’d you get out of her?”

“It’s the hybrids, Niklaus. They’re spreading word to witches across the globe. I don’t think they know where you are, but it’s only a matter of time they realize she’s dead,” Elijah said.

“We need to leave in the morning,” Caroline whispered. The vervain was passing and she sat up.

“In the morning, love? We should—,” Klaus said.

“Not tonight. We have something to do first. Elijah, you can just move my stuff to the other room. You guys should stay here tonight,” she said, gesturing to the rooms. Elijah nodded and got to his feet.

“Where are we going?” Katherine asked. Klaus looked up at her. He didn’t know what to think about Katerina now. She had the shot she waited five hundred years for and she didn’t take it.

“I would suggest somewhere we don’t have any property. We need to be more careful now,” Klaus said. Rage pulsed through his body. He was going to draw the hybrids’ deaths out longer this time. He was going to make them suffer in ways they couldn’t imagine.

“I have a place,” Katherine said. Klaus looked for deception in her eyes, but found none.

“That sounds good,” Caroline said. She rose to her feet as Elijah moved her suitcase into Klaus’s room. She looked back at Klaus. “I need to change then we’ll go. My clothes have blood on them. Sorry about your sweater.” He watched her walk into his room, confused. Elijah opened the fridge and grabbed a blood bag out of it, tossing it to Klaus. He drank and felt himself regain his strength.

“Tomorrow, you will explain the link,” Elijah said firmly. Klaus nodded and Caroline walked back out. She’d rinsed the dirt and blood off her face. She took the bag from Klaus’s hand and drank.

“Are you ready?” she asked. Klaus nodded, having no idea what to expect, and followed Caroline out the door. She wore the jacket he gave her in Ireland.

“We’ll have the escargot to start, please,” Caroline said to the waiter. He nodded and walked away. They were at a small hole in the wall close to their apartment. Klaus loved the way the candlelight illuminated her skin with a soft, warm twinge.

“You’re exhausted, love,” Klaus said. Caroline shook her head.

“I promised you,” she said.

“How about just the appetizer then we will go home early?” he asked. He felt a twinge of sadness. Home was about to not be home anymore. Caroline nodded gratefully at his offer.

“So you’re not mad at me anymore?” she asked.

“It’s difficult to remain angry with someone who just got beaten to a pulp because of me,” he replied.

“Don’t feel guilty. I knew I was taking on a risk with the whole ‘high profile city’ thing. This is my trip too,” she said. They held eye contact for a moment.

“Will you do me a favor?” she asked.

“Almost certainly,” he replied, smirking.

“I’m not going to be able to eat it if I see the shells; I’m telling you. Will you—,” she shuddered, “—dig it out for me? Then just hand me the fork and I’ll eat it with my eyes closed.” Klaus laughed and agreed. The two chatted about their time in Paris and the strange evening. They decided it did no good to speculate about Katherine’s true intentions, but agreed to stay wary. Klaus looked over her shoulder and saw the waiter bringing the dish over.

“Close your eyes,” he told her. Caroline put her hand over her eyes, a nervous smile on her face. She left her other hand in her lap; it was healing, but tender.

Klaus took the tongs and gripped the first snail. He took the small fork and began to dig it out.

“How many tools are involved!?” Caroline asked, a horrified expression on her face. Klaus put his hand over her eyes.

“You’re peeking! You have no self control,” Klaus said. Caroline replaced his hand with hers.

“Fine. Continue your weird game of Snail Operation,” she said. Klaus got a grip of the first snail.

“Phew, that one was tough. It left a trail of slime all over the table; took me a while to catch it,” he teased.

“Klaus! Ew,” Caroline grimaced.

“Don’t worry; I’m pretty sure the eyes were removed,” he added. Caroline pouted and he touched her hand. He guided it around the fork and Caroline shuddered, keeping her eyes squeezed tight. She shuddered and took a tentative bite.

“I can’t believe you ate the whole plate,” Klaus said, opening the door for her.

“You got one!” she said, defensively. She giggled as they walked through the apartment door. Her bedroom door was open; Katherine and Elijah must be taking in their one night in the city. Caroline looked at the couch. She liked it, but it wasn’t comfortable.

“Don’t even think about it after the day you’ve had. You need a bed,” Klaus said. “If you want to make the couch up for me like old times at the Gilbert house, though, it’s fine.”

Caroline thought about the night she and Klaus fell asleep on the couch together. Had it been only a few weeks? She looked up at him.

“No funny business,” she said, holding a warning finger out at him. She nodded in the direction of Klaus’s room and he smiled.

“None,” he said, nodding dutifully. They walked in the room and Caroline looked around. They’d traveled light, so she knew there wouldn’t be art on the walls or knick-knacks on shelves, but the room still felt so Klaus. The white comforter contrasted the black sheets and pillow cases. His sketch pad and pencil were set on his nightstand. On her nightstand was a pile of papers. She looked through them. Metro ticket stubs, airline tickets, maps. Klaus took the brochure from Val-de-Grace from his pocket and set it on the nightstand. Caroline looked up at him with delighted surprise. He was keeping everything. Klaus shrugged it off.

Caroline grabbed a pair of sweats and a tank top from her bag and went to the bathroom to change. She realized she’d regained full function in her left hand again as she moved it around. When she got back to the bedroom, Klaus was already in bed on his side. She walked around the bed and pulled the covers back on her side, getting in next to him. Klaus turned the lamp off and the room fell into darkness except the moonlight pouring in through the window.

“What was the rule?” she asked.

“Absolutely no funny business,” Klaus replied, smiling into the dark.

“Goodnight,” she said.

“Goodnight, Caroline,” she heard. Maybe it was the getting the shit beat out of her, but she felt sleep come for her hard and fast. She drifted into her dream seamlessly.

Caroline was back in her old kitchen, pouring a blood bag into her favorite coffee mug. She placed it in the microwave. As she leaned against the kitchen counter, she felt two arms wrap around her waist.

“You know it’s not as good as the real thing,” she heard a whisper in her ear. Caroline turned around to see Klaus standing in front of her. He placed his hands on her hips, brushing the skin beneath the bottom of her shirt.

“If you heat it up just the right amount, you can get it to 98.6*,” she replied.

“Tell yourself that,” Klaus smirked. Caroline put her hands on his chest. She felt the warmth of his skin through his t-shirt.

“I’m getting so tired of pretending I don’t want you,” she whispered. Klaus put his fingers through the belt loops of her jeans and pulled her in closer.

“Then stop,” he said. He planted a trail of kisses up and down her neck. Caroline felt a cool rush spread through her body and her nipples perk up.

“Can I?” she asked nobody in particular. Klaus stopped kissing her neck and instead looked in her eyes. He brought his hand to her hair and brushed it behind her ear.

Caroline leaned into him and kissed him hard. He responded in turn, grabbing her ass to pull her in closer to him. She grunted as he picked her up easily. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he bent her backwards onto the dining room table. Klaus broke their kiss to move down her body. He ripped her shirt from the front, breaking the buttons. She wasn’t wearing a bra, but he knew that. She desperately pulled his shirt off of him as he kissed and licked her neck. Caroline tried to touch him, but he pinned her wrists down.

“We both know the only thing you like more than control is losing it,” he said. Caroline nodded.

“Yes,” she whispered. Klaus kissed his way down to her chest before he landed on her right nipple. He took it in his mouth and licked and sucked it until Caroline squirmed. He held her in place by her wrists and all she could do is feel the build up. She let out a moan. Klaus moved to her other breast and flicked his tongue over her nipple until she was begging.

“Please,” she moaned.

“Please what?” he asked, kissing down her stomach.

“Please let me cum,” she whispered.

Klaus unzipped her jeans and pulled them off of her. Her panties were sopping wet as he pulled them down. She felt his tongue hot on her clit. He sucked on her clit lightly and brought his tongue up and down. Caroline involuntarily squirmed in ecstasy. Klaus let her wrists go and gripped her thighs hard. She knotted her hands in his hair and moved her hips with his tongue.  
“Fuck!” she screamed out as her orgasm built. Klaus moved his hands to her breasts and rolled her nipples between his fingers. Caroline felt herself unravel. She came harder than she ever had.

Caroline woke up, cumming hard against the sheets. She faintly noticed Klaus lying next to her in the dark room, groaning into his pillow. He woke up, feeling her orgasm rush through him.

She sat up fast. Did that just happen? Klaus looked at her, bewildered. A victorious smirk rose on his face. Caroline buried her face in her hands.

“Not a word,” she warned. Klaus mimed zipping his lips and throwing out the key.

“Did that qualify as funny business?” he asked quietly.

“I said not a word!”

“That was six.”


	4. Amsterdam

“So the doppelgänger is back to her old self, is she?” Klaus asked. He and Caroline spent their first day in Amsterdam hopping between the local museums. Days like this were the best of their travels. All day, they snipped at each other, they teased each other, and they threw their heads back laughing. The sunset reflected off the water flowing in the canals next to them as they walked along. Caroline stabbed the fries and fritessaus from the paper cone in her hand.

“You know you know her name,” she replied, though she couldn’t hide her smile. For years, she felt jealous of Elena, but Klaus couldn’t be bothered to say her name. It gave her a petty teen sense of validation.

“Fine. Is Elena is rolling around in the post-switch guilt?” he rephrased. He reached for one of Caroline’s fries, but she held the cone away from him.

“We agreed you get one!” she complained.

“One of, what, thirty? You’re so greedy,” he said, stealing one anyway.

“She left me a voicemail apologizing today. I’m kind of surprised, though. Some bitchy phone calls are at the bottom of her list of offenses from the last few weeks,” she said.

“Was she like Katerina?” Klaus asked. He’d been curious how they might compare when Elena’s humanity was off. Klaus spotted a group of bikes traveling fast in their direction. He gently pulled Caroline toward the inside of the sidewalk. He stepped to the outside and they kept going.

“Not really. Elena was more just apathetic and aggressively unfiltered. Katherine is terrible and obnoxious, but she’s…,” she tried to find the words.

“Spunky? Fun?” Klaus asked, smiling. Caroline elbowed him.

“Stop trying to make us friends,” she said. When they got to Katherine’s apartment last night, Klaus watched Caroline hold herself back from gawking. She didn’t expect the décor to be so damn tasteful. Caroline loved the posters on the walls of Betty Page and the Los Angeles skyline. Some of her favorite movies lined the shelves in the living room. Katherine even had Caroline’s dream espresso machine on the kitchen counter.

“You know I’m not founder of the Katerina Petrova fan club, but who knows how long we will be here?” Klaus said.

“Man, the girl saves us both from our imminent deaths one time and she gets as close to forgiveness as I’ve seen you yet,” Caroline teased.

“You deserve a friend here,” he said.

“I have one,” she replied. Klaus’s eyes flickered with warm surprise.

“I didn’t know you and Elijah were so close,” he said. Caroline laughed. As the sun fell, the city turned on, and sparkling lights lined the canals and streets. He nodded in the direction of a nearby bridge. They walked midway across it before stopping in the middle. They leaned against the side, staring out at the water in front of them.

“She chose Damon, though. No sire bond, no humanity off; she just picked him,” Caroline said, grimacing.

“Can I ask you a question?” Klaus asked. She glanced at him.

“It depends on the question.”

“Why do you seem so personally affronted by Elena choosing Damon?” he asked. Caroline looked at the water thoughtfully, but she didn’t say anything.

“Don’t get me wrong, love, I’m a little thrown by it, too, but you seem offended. Tell me it’s not jealousy over Damon; my ego can only take so much.”

Caroline laughed lightly at that.

“Definitely not,” she said.

“Then what is it?” he asked. Caroline tucked her hair behind her ear and tried to find the right words. She drew in a shaky breath.

“Have you had a good time the last couple of weeks? Cliff jumping and escargot?” she asked, looking down at her feet.

“You know I have,” he said earnestly. She paused for a moment.

“Damon hurt me, you know. When we first met. I’m over it now. It happened, he’s changed, whatever, but he did some pretty terrible things when we met him. He abused me. He was killing people. He killed Matt’s sister. He turned her because he was just… bored,” she said. Klaus’s blood boiled thinking about Damon hurting her, but he held it in. He wanted her to keep going.

“So you don’t approve because you still blame him for those things?” he asked. Caroline paused for a moment, thinking.

“It’s part of it. But somewhere along the way, he put just enough white paint in the grey to make it okay to pick him. He sort of pulled it together in his own Damon way. Before Stefan left and got all rippery, and Damon became Mr. Hero guy, it didn’t matter what Elena felt for him. All of the glances and the loaded silences and Pride and Prejudice hand touches in the world didn’t matter. It could never happen. Elena knew what I know,” she said, bowing her head.

“What’s that?” he asked, looking at her. She made herself look at him.

“That no matter how much it looked like she had a choice, she didn’t really have one. No matter how many times he put himself out there, it didn’t matter if he kept doing things like snapping Jeremy’s neck or killing Lexi. She couldn’t be with someone who hurt the people she loves. Elena never had a choice and, sure, do I agree with the one she made when she finally got one? No. But you were right. I am jealous. I’m jealous she had a choice.”

Klaus glanced at Caroline’s nervous expression. She stared down at her hands and picked at her cuticles. He put his hand on hers gently to stop her.

“You want the choice, though?” he asked. Caroline nodded.

Klaus felt a wave of different emotions hit him. He felt proud. She admitted to it. This was victory. But Klaus couldn’t remember a time where him using violence was not justified. He’d spent centuries cultivating a ruthless reputation for a reason: to punish people who crossed him. He recalled Caroline’s words from last month. Anybody capable of love is capable of being saved. Did she want to save him so she could be with him? Or, at least, let herself want to be with him? He didn’t know if he wanted to change for a maybe. But it was Caroline.

“What does putting enough white paint in look like?” he asked. She gave a small shrug.

“I think you’d figure it out,” she said. They stood next to each other, but facing the water, barely able to look at each other.

“If I do this, and give you the choice you want, I need you to actually consider…” he trailed off, struggling to find the words.

“You want me to be open to the idea,” she said, glancing at him. Klaus nodded. He turned to face her and she mirrored him. If he tried, she had to try. Caroline hadn’t seen this kind of vulnerability in his eyes since they stood on Elena’s porch the night they were linked. She faintly recalled advising Elena. I’ve seen the Bachelor! It’s Stefan’s turn!

It’s not like she didn’t know what Klaus was talking about. Yes, there were moments between them, moments that happened long before this trip, even. They had this strange understanding, this fun shared humor, and inexplicable shared affection. She never really let it in, though. For months, she watched as Tyler blew her off, hung out with Rebekah, called her hot, and even vervained her. After everything Caroline did to support him, he lost sight of her in his own Klaus obsession. Caroline lost all of her control being with Tyler. She loved him, she watched him pull from her, and she could do nothing. She lost her power.

Caroline looked up at Klaus. He drove her crazy. He said things that challenged everything she felt and thought. He called her out on, well, everything. He also loved her. What happened on the day she felt too much for him? What happened when she was stuck caring about someone who slaughtered people she cared about? Then again, maybe it would be okay. A supercut of what it could look like crossed her mind. It didn’t look much different than what it was now: running around with him, browsing museums, and watching movies. Still, a flash of a goodnight kiss. A snippet of his hands on her waist.

“Okay. You work on the white paint. And I will work on letting it in,” she said. A grin slowly spread on Klaus’s face. He put his hands on her shoulders and ran them gently down her upper arms. He didn’t want to thank her for seeing somebody worth trying for. He just hoped she knew.

“How about we get something to eat before we get back? You can teach me your master technique,” he said. She smiled and they continued to walk down the street, a little closer than before.

They wandered down the streets of the peak tourist areas together, scouting for college kids on break. Caroline told Klaus everything she knew about feeding on humans. She was used to blood bags, but Stefan gave her some tips “just in case”. Obviously, if you could heal them, you could drink deeper. That’s when you just listen carefully and wait until you hear their heartbeat start to slow. If you’re in a hurry, though, you wait until their breathing gets labored. Klaus took in her lessons, nodding along. He figured step one of adding in white paint would be to ease back on the human killing, at least for now.

They spotted a pair of college-aged guys last in line for pizza in a side street. Klaus gestured for her to take the lead. He loved watching her work her magic. She approached the boys by herself.

“Hey! My friends and I were trying to find a cool bar nearby, but we got lost. Do you think you could help us figure out where it is?” she asked, playing with her hair. They nodded with enthusiasm. Caroline walked down the street toward the secluded alley behind it, and they followed. They looked around for the other girls, confused. Klaus suddenly appeared in front of them.

“You’re not going to remember this,” he said to one of them. He put his hand on his mouth to keep him from screaming and bit into his neck. He could hear Caroline compelling the other boy. He closed his eyes and listened to the victim’s heartbeat as he drank. He never paid attention to it before. The thumping accelerated fast as the boy panicked. Then it began to beat slower and slower. Klaus let go and bit into his own wrist, and shoved his blood into the boy’s mouth. He watched as the boy’s wound healed. He looked to his right and found Caroline doing the same, wiping her mouth.

“Go get your pizza,” he said, waving him off. The guys looked at each other and shrugged, going back down the street. Caroline gave a giddy hop as she approached Klaus.

“You did it!” she squealed. Klaus smiled at her. Suddenly, he felt a crash of a tingly fog spread from his arms up through his body. Woah. Caroline looked up at him, confused and startled.

“They were stoned?” Klaus asked. “There’s no— they weren’t this high!” Caroline looked around and grabbed onto Klaus’s arm.

“Is this what Jeremy and Vicki liked so much?” she whispered. She blinked a few times and looked into Klaus’s eyes. His face spun. Klaus closed his eyes and sighed. He shook his head incredulously. No wonder they were hit so hard. Caroline had never done this before. He had to pull it together.

“Klaus?” Caroline asked, gripping his arm.

“What, love?” he asked.

“Is this going to last forever?” she asked. He grinned and touched her face briefly.

“No, Caroline. Come on; we’ll go back to Katerina’s and get you some of those wafer cookies you like,” he said.

“That sounds so good,” she whispered, holding onto his arm. Klaus looked down at her hand. He could get used to this.

Their ten minute walk home felt like a day-long journey. As they walked down the street, Caroline kept mumbling under her breath. Badadaaaa, badadadaaaa, ba ba ba ba ba ba…

“Good lord, sweetheart, what are you doing?” Klaus asked. Caroline looked up at him with her slightly red eyes.

“It’s the Mission Impossible theme song,” she said. She looked at him like he was stupid.

“Oh, fuck, yeah! Badadaaaa, badadaaaa…” he started humming along with her.

“Can you go over the details again?” she asked.

“Okay. We are going to turn right, then we are going to ring the bell, then we are going to go up two flights of stairs, then we will be there,” he emphasized each step like he was trying to convince both of them they would get there.

“And then Katherine will let us in, we’ll grab the cookies, then we’ll hide before they even notice!” she said.

“Exactly. They won’t even be able to tell. Look at us; look how normal we are,” he replied.

“I have never seen two more normal people in my whole life,” she said, nodding fiercely. They turned right onto Katherine’s street. A small group passed by them.

“Oh my God, they totally knew,” Caroline whispered.

“Definitely. They know you’re high. Your mom knows you’re high. The cops know you’re high. It’s over for you, Caroline,” he teased her. She smacked him on the arm and laughed. They walked up to Katherine’s building.

“Oh my God, I never noticed how cute the color of her building is! What color is that?” she asked.

“Blue?” he replied.

“No, no… it’s like a… well it’s like green, but also purple,” she murmured.

“Blue?”

“Yes!”

They walked up to the porch and looked at each other.

“Okay, one more time,” Klaus said. Caroline did a couple of hops to hype herself up. She could do this. She recited the planned script.

“Hey, Katherine. We’re exhausted. Gonna pass out early tonight. Goodnight! And then we just grab the cookies and go,” she said.

“Excellent. We have this,” he said.

“Nobody has ever had anything more than this!” she replied, punching the air.

“Maybe dial back the enthusiasm,” he suggested. Caroline paused for a second, thinking. She decided he was right and nodded. Klaus hit the buzzer and leaned against the wall waiting for her to answer.

“What’s up with you bad boys and how you’re always leaning on things?” she asked.

“I don’t know where to begin with that sentence.”

Katherine buzzed them up them up and they started up the narrow stairwell. Caroline whispered under her breath.

“Hey, Katherine. We’re exhausted. Gonna pass out early tonight. Goodnight! Hey, Katherine. We’re exhausted. Gonna pass out early tonight. Hey Katherine…” They stepped in front of the door and gave each other a confident nod. Klaus knocked on the door. After a few seconds, Katherine opened the front door.

“Hey, Katherine!” Caroline said.

“You’re baked!” Katherine laughed.

* * *

Elijah and Klaus stood in the kitchen, making mini pizzas for the girls. Katherine had immediately smoked when she caught them. She was never one to turn down a fun time.

“This was not particularly responsible, Niklaus. You were attacked just two days ago,” Elijah said.

“Well, how were we supposed to know?” Klaus responded, gesturing largely.

“Where did you even find them?”

“Well... okay, yes, we did find them in line for pizza,” he conceded.

“In Amsterdam, at night, in this neighborhood,” Elijah said, raising his eyebrows.

“Okay, Mr. Deductive Reasoning,” Klaus said, mocking his brother’s serious face. Elijah smiled.

“Go join them; I’ll bring these out,” he said. Klaus rose his hands innocently and went to the living room. Katherine and Caroline were sitting on the floor of the living room, talking about something that seemed intense. He felt concern creep up in his stomach. He hoped everything was alright.

“Klaus!” Caroline beamed. He could have melted on the spot. She grabbed the sleeve of his jacket, pulling him to sit next to her.

“Okay, we think we’re onto something, but you have to promise to take it seriously!” Caroline said. Klaus immediately started giggling.

“That is not taking it seriously!” she said.

“No, no, I’m listening. Please go ahead,” Klaus said.

“Katherine can explain it better than I can,” Caroline said. She gestured for Katherine to take it away.

“Okay. So you know how, on menus, if there’s, like, a salad, and you can get it for, say, $9, but then it says, if you add chicken, it goes up to like $12. It says, like, “Add chicken: $3.” Klaus peeked over at Caroline, who was nodding enthusiastically, like she had discovered something monumental.

“Well what if, instead, it said, ‘Salad, $12. No chicken: $9?' Like minus $3? Wouldn’t that change the game?” Katherine asked as Elijah walked in, carrying the pizzas.

“What do you think, brother?” Klaus asked him, grabbing one of the pizzas. Caroline glared. He split it in two and gave her the bigger half.

“Well, I think the only question is; who do we even call about this first? The Queen?” Elijah asked.

“We have to go bigger. This can’t be left up to the humans; they won’t know what to do with the truth. We have to go to the top of the food chain,” Klaus said, feigning seriousness.

“You know what? I think that’s us!” Elijah said with mock surprise. Klaus looked at the girls, his expression entirely professional.

“We will take it into consideration,” he said before the brothers broke into laughter. Elijah sat next to Katherine and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Assholes,” she said.

Caroline took a bite of the pizza and widened her eyes. It was like she could taste every individual flavor more than she ever had before.

“Oh my God,” she groaned involuntarily. Klaus looked at her, amused.

“Good?” he asked. She nodded.

“Thanks, you two,” she smiled at Klaus, who nodded with warm eyes. She looked over at Katherine and Elijah, who were thumb wrestling and chuckling. She tore her eyes away and took another bite. She was envious. If everything tasted and looked so much more intense, would holding hands feel like like that too?

“Ooooh, I have an idea,” Katherine said, jumping up and heading into her bedroom. Elijah got up and took the plate into the kitchen. He ran the sink and washed the dishes. Caroline turned to face Klaus. She was too happy to be anxious. Nervous tingles were lost in the midst of the high tingles. She took his left hand and lifted his arm up.

“Yes?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Caroline scooted into the space next to him and draped his arm over her shoulder. She caught his left hand with hers and leaned into his chest. Klaus laced his fingers with hers.

“I like this,” he said in her ear, making her shiver.

“Yeah, well, I’m really tired of pretending you don’t smell good,” she whispered, leaning her face into his chest.

Katherine returned with a bottle of vodka in her hand.

“Let’s go out,” she said, putting the vodka on the table.

The four compelled themselves into the club easily. Elijah’s objections had fallen on deaf ears as the three took a shot before they all left. After Katherine pouted enough, he joined them. As they walked through the hall into the main club floor, Caroline whispered to Klaus.

“Katherine is so fun!”

“You are going to be mortified in the morning,” he said, chuckling. When they walked through the door, a giant dance floor sprawled out in front of them; they were practically in a warehouse. Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” blared in the building.

“We’re gonna get drinks!” Katherine shouted over the music. Caroline nodded, not having really heard her.

“Vodka cran?” Katherine asked. Caroline definitely heard that.

“YES!” she replied. The couple walked over to the bar. Klaus raised his eyebrows at her.

“You do not have the tolerance to be doing this! You are dragging me down,” he said.

“But you’re dragging me up!” she flashed him her innocent smile. He shook his head with amusement. This girl was unreal.

“So did you learn to dance in the last thousand years?” she asked.

“We’ll find out,” he said. He grabbed her hand and led her out onto the dance-floor. When “Thrift Shop” started playing, Katherine sprinted over to them with vamp speed. Caroline looked startled, but Katherine shook her head.

“These people don’t notice anything,” she said. She took a sip from the drink and handed it to Caroline. Elijah followed soon, smiling at how much fun his girl was having. The brothers made eye contact and shrugged, silently agreeing that they might as well enjoy it. The girls were singing along as the four of them danced together.

At first, Caroline played it safer and danced more with Katherine. They stood back to back, dancing and passing the drink back and forth. Caroline had never gone out like this; she’d just had cheap beer at the falls. She imagined how worried she would be here if she were human, but they were four of the most powerful creatures on the planet. She felt strong, free, and euphoric. She relinquished control and let the high course through her. There was something so youthful about the moment. She remembered how Klaus often spoke about time’s irrelevance when you’re a vampire. They weren’t young. They just were. She let any concerns about the link and her friends back home dissipate off of her. Caroline looked next to her at Klaus, who was laughing about something with his brother, moving to the beat of the music. He was wearing a fitted short sleeve shirt and jeans and damn did he look good. She wanted to touch him and dance with him all night.

Klaus felt Caroline’s longing in his own body. Every day, the threshold for how intense the emotions had to be to feel each other got lower. He didn’t think about it; it was a problem for tomorrow. He looked at her and caught her staring at him. On any other day, she would have looked away. Tonight, she held his gaze. He walked up to her and tentatively held his hand out. She took it and he spun her around and pulled her back in. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck and he put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer into him. They bobbed along to Disclosure’s “White Noise”, and the DJ blurred it into Selena Gomez’s “Come and Get It”. Caroline spun around and she and Katherine made eye contact and started singing loudly together. They laughed as they realized they both knew every syllable to every line. They held hands over their heads as they unabashedly danced on the their respective brothers.

The group kept this up for so long they didn’t keep track of time. Katherine just kept bringing more drinks and the songs seemed to get better every time. Caroline leaned her head back onto Klaus’s shoulder and closed her eyes, reveling in the high from the night. Ever since she became a vampire, Bonnie’s friendship often felt conditional, like Caroline was lucky Bonnie was still friends with her despite her being a vampire, though she had no control over it. Even since Elena turned, she just hated being a vampire so much that Caroline felt almost bad for loving it. All of her friends wanted the cure. As she moved to the music with this group, though, she felt a strange sense of belonging, one she hadn’t felt before. They were vampires… and they fucking loved it.

The four of them passed around two jack and cokes and kept switching around, dancing in different pairs and as a group. Klaus even spun Katherine around a few times. Elijah and Caroline raised their hands over their heads to Miley’s “We Can’t Stop”, and he taught her some old moves from different decades. Klaus had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at Caroline’s terrible disco form. He thought about what Caroline’s interests would have been in each decade. He bet she would have loved ABBA, Madonna, and The Spice Girls. He realized how badly he wanted to be there to see all the things she’d love for the rest of time. She caught his eye and hopped over to him, putting her arms around his neck. She leaned into his ear so he could hear her over the music.

“How does blood taste when you’re like this?” she asked. He raised an eyebrow at her, smirking. He approached a man nearby, who was dancing on any girl he could. Caroline watched Klaus compel him and the man walked over. Katherine and Elijah saw and nonchalantly moved over to Caroline, encircling her and the boy so the distracted club goers couldn’t see. Caroline bit into his neck and felt the blood coat her tongue. The thirst was rarely ever satiated. In Mystic Falls, the blood part was the thing they had to do: the worst part of being a vampire. She couldn’t deny, though, how unbelievable it tasted. It was better than the cider in Dublin, the cotton candy ice cream, the escargot, the macaroons, the fries and Fritessaus, and Elijah’s ridiculously good mini pizzas combined. She felt like she was born to enjoy this life. She gripped the man’s shoulders and bit harder, drinking even more.

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and growled at Klaus for interrupting her. He pulled her back and she blinked, clearing her head from the blood. She looked at the man, who looked like he was barely holding onto consciousness. Klaus bit into his wrist and fed him his blood. Caroline started to breathe unevenly. Oh, God, what did she do? She let herself get completely out of control; what was she doing? She felt tears well up in her eyes. Klaus compelled the man to forget and leave and turned to her.

Klaus wiped one of her tears falling down her cheek.

“It’s okay, love; it’s okay. You just got excited. It doesn’t have to ruin your night,” he comforted her. She looked at him, confused. Going too far was her worst nightmare, but she felt calmed.

“Why’d you stop me?” she asked. He looked at her like she was silly.

“You’d be devastated,” he said. She smiled and hugged him hard, burying her face in his neck. He held her close and caught a whiff of her hair.

“Okay, yeah, adding in some white paint might have partially motivated the decision,” he whispered in her ear. She pulled back and laughed. His arms were still tightly around her waist and she put her hand on the back of his neck. Her expression got serious as she looked between his eyes and his lips. He felt the butterflies in her stomach and brought his hand to her cheek. She let out a nervous shaky breath.

“We are drunk and high and entirely uninhibited,” she said, staring at his lips.

“Yes, we are,” he nodded. He had tunnel vision. All he could see in the whole place was Caroline.

“This is totally the wrong time. I mean, it’s way too soon. You can’t just make one good guy move and expect—,” she started.

“I know,” he interrupted, nodding and running his thumb across her cheek. Ariana Grande’s voice thundered through the warehouse.

“So let’s just…,” she started.

“Not count this one?” he asked, leaning closer to her.

“God, yes,” she said. She closed the gap between them and kissed him. He pulled her body in to press closely against his. He brought his other hand to the back of her head, twisting his fingers in her curls. She brought her hand to his cheek as their lips pressed together. Klaus’s hand creeped up beneath the back of her shirt, touching the small of her back. They deepened the kiss, and Klaus lifted her off her feet just a few inches. The music thundered in their ears, there were hundreds of people on either side of them, but all Caroline could feel was Klaus’s body against hers. After a moment, he set her down and they broke apart. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. They could feel each other’s chests rising and falling as they breathed.

“Whoooo!!!” they heard next to them, and they broke eye contact to find Katherine cheering them on. Elijah tried to put his hand over her mouth, laughing. They giggled and fell into each other. Caroline and Klaus shook their heads, smiling, looked at each other again. He let go of her waist and grabbed her hand, spinning her around back to the group. They danced closer now.


	5. Budapest

The dim morning light peered in through the edges of the blackout curtains in Katherine’s spare room, waking Klaus. He blinked and felt Caroline’s warm body against his. Her face was pressed into his neck, her hand rested gently on his chest, and her leg was hiked up over his waist. This was the third night they shared a bed since Katherine and his brother joined them, but the first morning he woke up without her back turned from him. His breath hitched as a wave of the hazy memories from the night before flew back to him. She’d cuddled up against his chest. They kissed on the dancefloor. He gave her a piggyback ride home.

He reached his hand over to stroke her curly hair only to find it in a long braid. He smiled, remembering her and Katherine stumbling inside last night. Caroline wanted to go right to sleep, but Katherine dragged her into the bathroom to wipe the makeup off her face and comb her hair out.

“If you’re going to adopt the rock and roll vampire lifestyle, you gotta take your makeup off,” Katherine had said, wiping Caroline’s face. Caroline had pouted but allowed it.

A wave of dread fell over Klaus. It was like waking up from some perfect dream. He dreaded Caroline falling back into her routine when they were in Mystic Falls. They’d have a moment, a glance, or a laugh, then she would retreat into herself more than ever. Lying here holding her almost felt wrong. The version of her last night who curled up next to him was not going to be the Caroline who woke up. Klaus was nothing if not a realist. She would wake up, see him, and leave him. Everybody left him.

He had to get up and shatter the illusion that last night could bleed into one more day. He let himself have one more moment to feel her breath on his neck then he mustered all of the willpower he had and left the bed. Caroline stirred for a moment, but flopped back onto her stomach, stretching out in her sleep. He bowed his head. Of course, he’d hoped she’d been awake. He hoped she’d grab his arm and ask him to stay with her. That wasn’t life.

Klaus opened the door quietly and walked into the living room. He was surprised to see Katherine sitting on her couch, sipping espresso, and watching some program about a blonde superhero. He blinked as he remembered the odd amount of fun he had with her last night. He’d spun her around the dancefloor and laughed with her at Elijah teaching Caroline the hand-jive. She looked up and held his gaze for a moment and the air in the room grew awkward.

“Good morning,” she said quietly. Klaus nodded back at her and walked to the kitchen. As he opened the fridge, he saw twelve blood bags. He blinked and looked back at her.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“There’s a hospital nearby. Thought I’d grab a couple of meals worth. Help yourself,” she replied. Klaus turned back to the fridge.

“Oh! But the O-Neg is for Caroline,” Katherine said. Klaus smirked into the fridge as he grabbed a different bag.

“Well, you can’t coax friendship out of her with alcohol every day. Why not try blood?” he said, with a little more bite than he meant.

“And what’s your plan?” she snipped back. Klaus’s expression faltered as he poured the blood into a mug and put it in the microwave. He kept his back to her as he waited for it to hit 37 degrees. When the machine beeped, he walked with heavy feet over near Katherine and sat in the loveseat. He sipped from the mug and sat in contemplative quiet. After several minutes, he broke the silence.

“I half-expect you to be gone every morning,” Klaus said. Katherine glanced at him.

“You killed my entire family because I didn’t want to die for you at the right time. I half-expect to leave every morning,” she said. Klaus opened his mouth to defend himself but hesitated and shut it. He’d never thought about it like that. He’d only ever thought that she kept him from getting what he wanted: his own family.

“And you don’t because it’s your chance at freedom?” he asked.

“Pretty much,” she murmured. He gave up on the conversation and grabbed his sketchbook off the end table. He drew whatever came to mind for an hour as Katherine watched TV and the sun crept higher and higher in the sky. Katherine spoke suddenly.

“I never made a friend I didn’t have to manipulate into it.”

Klaus looked up at her then to the fridge. He thought about her passing the drink back and forth with Caroline, braiding her hair, and buying her favorite blood. They were two sides of the same horribly lonely coin. He knew that last night was the best night of both of their lives.

He glanced down at his sketchpad. He’d drawn the four of them dancing. Elijah’s arms around Katherine’s waist, the girls’ hands intertwined high above their heads, and Klaus’s hands on Caroline’s hips. He swallowed and passed the sketchpad to Katherine. She tentatively took it from him and looked down at the drawing. She felt horribly embarrassing tears threaten to hit her eyes. She’s gone out with people many times, but how many times had she felt that those people wanted to be there with her, the real her, not whoever she convinced them she was? She cleared her throat and handed it back to him.

“Your shading needs work,” she said. Klaus smirked.

“Shut up,” he replied.

They glanced up when the door to Katherine’s bedroom opened and his brother walked into the living room.

“Good morning, Briar Rose,” said Klaus. Elijah rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes.

“That got old in in the 1500s, Niklaus,” Elijah said, rolling his eyes. He sat next to Katherine, who gave him a kiss on the cheek before she rose to surprise him with the blood. Klaus turned back to his drawing when he felt hot water raining down on him. Caroline had gotten in the shower. At least her disgust wasn’t so strong he could feel it.

Caroline let the water run down on her face as she went through everything from the night before in her mind. She spent last night dancing and drinking with three people who had killed more humans than she could count. In fact, she could add herself to Katherine’s list of victims. It was exactly those people who made her feel more alive or accepted than she’d ever felt. It was strangely the best night of her life.

She remembered how euphoric it felt to kiss Klaus. She rolled her eyes at her own actions. She said she was going to “be open to it”! Then the second he’s decent for 5 hours she succumbed to every instinct she’d ever suppressed to feel his lips on hers. She felt a wave of nerves overcome her, but they weren’t her own. Klaus knew she was awake and felt horribly anxious about it. Her first insecure thought was that he hated the kiss and worried about dealing with the fallout of rejecting a girl he physically couldn’t get away from him. She shook the insecurity from her head. Klaus loved her.

She closed her eyes, and a wave of images crossed her mind. Klaus slaughtering thirteen hybrids. Klaus killing Carol and Jenna. Klaus banishing Tyler from his home. Then Klaus saving the man falling from the Cliff. Klaus bashfully accepting the hug from the woman whose purse they retrieved. Klaus holding her back from killing that man on the dancefloor last night. It felt wrong to just lean into the willful ignorance to his nature because it felt good to. Then again, maybe this was who he was becoming. Caroline was nothing if not an optimist.

She resolved to figure out what to do when she saw him. She left Katherine’s braid in and dried off. She dressed quickly, approached the bedroom door, and took a deep breath. Nerves of her own turned in her stomach. She opened the door and walked out into the living room when the smell of French toast and warm blood hit her. Elijah stood in the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone.

“Good morning, Caroline,” he smiled warmly, and handed her a warm mug of blood. “Katerina got you some O-Negative from the hospital this morning.” Caroline smiled and took the mug from him. She looked over at Katherine.

“Thank you,” she smiled. Katherine shrugged.

“It was nothing,” she said, looking at the TV.

Caroline looked over at Klaus and felt his nerves mix with her own. His face was pure vulnerability. She felt his fear. She realized he expected her to turn away, take a seat next to Katherine, and ignore him. Her decision was made for at the sight of his expression. She swallowed and walked over to the love seat. She sat the mug on the coffee table and sat right next to Klaus, pressing her leg against his and brushing his arm with her hand. She faced him and he looked over at her, meeting her eyes with his own surprised gaze.

“You left this morning before we could talk,” she whispered. He nodded carefully.

“Dumbass,” she chastised and smiled at him. He smiled back, relief flooding through him. He brought his hand up to face, smoothing back the baby hairs that had escaped her braid. He looked at her like she’d never been looked at before. She melted. It was over for her.

Elijah brought over plates of French toast, setting them on the coffee table. She looked up and smiled her thanks at him. He nodded.

“Since Ms. Bennett seems a bit preoccupied…” Elijah began.

“Being Silas’s bitch?” Katherine finished for him. Caroline shot her a disapproving glance but said nothing. Her resentment toward Bonnie grew with every day she was apart from her mom.

“… with other things, I thought maybe we could contact Ms. Novotný, Niklaus.”

Klaus raised his eyebrows as he grabbed his plate off the coffee table.

“That old hag?” he asked skeptically.

“By that, you mean that talented witch who may know something about linking magic?” Elijah retorted.

“That’s what I said,” Klaus shrugged, taking a bite of his breakfast.

“Where is she?” Caroline asked.

“Just outside of Prague,” Elijah replied. Caroline lit up.

“Ooh, we could go to Budapest before! That’s semi-close, right?” she asked Klaus. He looked over at her, shocked. When they were walking through the Van Gogh museum, he mentioned that it was his favorite city in Europe.

“You want to prolong being linked to see it?” he asked. She shrugged.

“I mean… what’s another day? You’re not going anywhere,” she teased. Klaus tried not to grin like a child in front of Katherine and Elijah, but he knew Caroline could feel how happy he was.

“I could go for some goulash,” Katherine said. Elijah smiled at her.

“You, my love, are a bottomless pit.”

* * *

On the 100E bus from the Budapest airport to the city center, Caroline kept messing with the ticklish spot on Klaus’s wrist.

“You are pushing it,” he warned with no bite in his voice, trying to keep his arm out of her reach. She gave up and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“What about this place makes it your favorite?” she asked him, drawing shapes in the palm of his hand.

“I think you will either feel it or you won’t,” he said. He playfully trapped her fingers. They played a made-up game wherein she would escape his hand and trap his own and then they would do it all over again.

“I can’t wait to be as strong as you,” she grumbled after a while, conceding to the loss.

“In a thousand years? But I will be even stronger, and then what will you do?” he asked. Caroline’s stomach erupted in butterflies as he indicated still knowing each other so far in the future.

“It wasn’t a marriage proposal, love,” he teased, feeling her reaction in his own gut.

“Get out of my head,” she poked him. She closed her eyes at the feeling of her cheek on his shoulder and felt guilt rest in her gut. Whenever she got to this place with him, she envisioned Carol Lockwood’s screaming face as she flailed against an inhumanly strong grip holding her beneath the water. Every interaction like this one felt further and further from her control. She both relished in it and feared it. She didn’t know if she ever controlled how she felt about Klaus. Now, the capacity to just walk away from this was further from her reach.

“Maybe you should get out of your own,” he whispered, resting his head on top of hers.

“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” she replied.

“I can guess,” he replied. They didn’t say anything more about it. What was there to be said? He wasn’t sorry. He probably never would be.

They arrived in the city in late afternoon. After they dropped their things at their new apartment (Klaus barely held his grin back when Caroline requested two bedrooms), they walked in the direction of the river, taking in the sights. Caroline smiled at Katherine’s spring in her step as she and Elijah lead the way through the streets. Caroline and Klaus trailed behind them as she gaped at her surroundings: the giant, majestic Parliament building in the horizon and the river flowing next to them with massive bridges crossing it in intervals.

“You come alive here,” Elijah remarked to Katherine.

“Being in Eastern Europe reminds me of home,” Katherine replied. Caroline suddenly felt a pang of guilt in her chest that wasn’t her own. She looked over at Klaus inquisitively.

“Not a word,” he murmured. She stared at him but let it go.

The couples split up for a couple of hours as Elijah and Katherine went to get some local food and Klaus and Caroline walked over to Buda Castle. As the sun crept lower in the sky, all of the buildings lit up a gorgeous golden tint which reflected in the water of the river. Klaus insisted that they walk back to the Pest side of the water to watch the sunset. He compelled them a somlói galuska to split and they sat along the river, watching the sky change colors around the buildings. They were so preoccupied as Klaus chatted away about the history of the city that they didn’t notice a several sets of eyes on them.

“Thank God for vampire endurance because that is the most miles I’ve walked in a few hours,” Caroline said as she dug into the dessert.

“I’m pretty sure you should thank Esther for that one; the big guy didn’t do much for our kind,” he said. He expected her to smile but instead she grimaced. He felt a bubble of hate boil in her.

“Still angry about what she did to the teacher?” Klaus asked. Caroline looked at him.

“I’m angry about what she did to you,” she said. He looked back at her. Whether she meant that Esther planned to kill him or damned him to vampirism in the first place was unclear. All he knew was that Caroline Forbes hated somebody because they hurt him.

“I made it out alright,” he said, shrugging, but holding her gaze. Caroline couldn’t mistake the vulnerability in his blue eyes. A golden ring settled in his eyes as they reflected the illuminated Parliament building behind Caroline. The pink sky gave him a glow, more so than the one he always had. She realized how often she had mischaracterized her draw to him as a bad boy complex or the draw of darkness. She didn’t want him to be her leather jacket-clad dangerous guy. She wanted the man in front of her.

“Do you have any regrets?” she asked quietly. Klaus broke their eye contact and stabbed at the food with his dork.

“About my mother?” he asked. Caroline shook her head.

“About anything,” she said. Klaus looked back up at her. He thought about every time he pushed his family away because he was so convinced that they knew he was too great a monster to ever love. He thought of how he sunk a thousand years into breaking a curse rather than cherish the family he already had. He thought about making Katerina Petrova an orphan because, in her words, she didn’t die for him at the right time. He thought of Jenna and Carol: the two things it seemed he could never take back in Caroline’s eyes.

“More than I can count,” he whispered. He bowed his head in what was unmistakably shame. For so long, Caroline thought Klaus was shameless. Now she was convinced every action, word, and thought he had for a thousand years was fueled by shame. He’d been fighting against the feeling his father instilled in him in all of the wrong ways. He did it for so long that he couldn’t go back if or when he ever wondered if they were the wrong ways. It was easier to double down and lean into the role he set for himself.

Caroline reached her hand out and touched his chin with her index finger, lifting his face to look at her. He responded to the gesture with a bewildered look. She cupped his cheek in her hand. Caroline looked at him and thought of every laugh they shared, every time Klaus walked on the outside of the sidewalk, every time he brought her coffee, every time he made her feel smart and confident rather immature and neurotic. Love wasn’t a feeling anymore. It was actions. In their few short weeks together, Klaus showed Caroline what it was like to be loved in action: strong, stable, dependable, joking, and caring.

There would always be the issue of his past. There would always be the issue that his understanding of right and wrong were so fundamentally different from hers. There would always be the issue that her friends would never look at her the same way. She swallowed and looked at him. When this is what it was like to feel loved, who really gave a shit? They would figure it out. She didn’t love him yet; she knew that. What he gave her was somehow bigger than that. She felt free of the need for control she’d always had. She felt free of the fear of how others perceived her: as neurotic, tactless, mean, or shallow. That was everything.

“I am so happy to be here with you,” she said.

“Are you here with me?” he asked. He begged her with his eyes. _Tell me this means everything to you that it means to me._

“Yes,” she whispered.

Caroline closed the gap between them, pressing her lips gently to his. Klaus’s heart leapt as he reached his hands around her waist and pulled her in closer to him. Caroline’s other hand came up to rest on Klaus’s other cheek. She felt a tear fall from Klaus’s eye and she swiped it away with her thumb. Their first kiss in Amsterdam was longing, desperate, and sexy. Their second kiss was infused with gratitude, familiarity, and affection. They were both perfect. The shame for who they were-- the bastard child of a wolf and the insecure, eternally second-best teen—lost part of its grip on them. She didn’t even realize how tight shame’s hold was on her until she felt it slip. She deepened their kiss, rising to her knees to press her torso to his. Klaus caressed her lower back with his thumb and her jawline with his other hand. He moved his hand down as he grazed her neck with his fingers and stroked her collarbone. Caroline brought one of her hands down to rest on his chest, feeling his heart thundering beneath her palm.

They broke the kiss and rested their foreheads against each other. They breathed deeply, taking in the moment as the sky grew dark around them. Klaus’s phone beeped and he groaned.

“It might be them,” Caroline said, pulling back. Klaus pulled his phone out of his pocket and read the message. He smiled amused at the screen.

“What is it?” Caroline asked.

“First your favorite blood and now this? She’s going to outdo me,” he murmured and stood up, reaching his hand down to Caroline. She took it and he pulled her up. Klaus began to let go, but Caroline held onto his hand and wove her fingers with his. He brushed her thumb with his and he led her down the street.

They walked through narrow streets illuminated with twinkling lights and outdoor bars and restaurants on either side of them. Every place they passed had music blasting. The way the buildings glowed and reflected in the river, the gorgeous colors of the bridges, and the intricacy of the buildings made Budapest undeniably breathtaking, but it was the electricity in the air she loved most. She’d never been somewhere that felt so alive.

“We should come back after we get unlinked,” Caroline said suddenly. Klaus stopped in his tracks.

“What?” he asked.

“You were totally right; this place is unreal. I know we’re not planning on staying long so we can find the witch, but I want to come back. We haven’t even done the Gellert baths and I need to see the ruin bars. Maybe we could get a little apartment and stay put for a couple months. We can do a couple of days in Austria, too. I love the Sound of Music,” she said. Klaus gaped at her. She didn’t want to go back to Mystic Falls and convince Stefan or Elena to come with her. She wanted to be here with him.

Klaus pulled her in quickly and lifted her off the ground in a kiss. She smiled against it and wrapped her arms around his neck. He broke from the kiss and gently set her down so her feet landed on his feet and he kept walking, holding her waist firmly. Caroline laughed and planted kisses along his jawline.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I told Elijah we’d be there in five minutes and I’m not letting you go,” he said. He felt her body shake in quiet laughter against his chest.

Elijah and Katherine sat at a small table in the corner of the bar after buying four drinks. Elijah wrapped his arm around Katherine’s shoulder, and she leaned into him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. She took a sip of her drink.

“How is it?” Elijah asked.

“Tastes like freedom,” she remarked with a wry smile. Elijah rose an eyebrow.

“You already feel free despite your obligation to protect Caroline?” he asked. Katherine raised her eyebrows at him.

“What are you getting at?” she asked.

“Nothing. You just seem to be enjoying your task,” he said.

“Well, it beats running for my life,” she said.

“And yet I got the impression you made plenty of time for fun while you were on the run,” Elijah said.

“Do you need to hear me say this feels different?” she asked, tasting his bourbon and nodding her approval. Elijah ran his thumb over her eyebrow.

“I’m just pleasantly surprised,” he replied. Katherine warmed at his touch.

“500 years is a long time to be angry,” she said simply. Elijah kissed her forehead.

“I’m proud of you, Katerina. I know this cannot be easy being around Niklaus,” he said. Katherine shrugged.

“Everything is easier when you’re around,” she said. Elijah saw his brother and Caroline walk up outside the window. He waved them over to their table and Caroline lit up.

“Oh my God; it’s a karaoke bar!” she squealed as she ran up to the table. Two women were singing Katy Perry’s “Firework” rather poorly on the small stage.

“Katerina noted how passionately you belted the numbers last night and thought maybe there was a performer in you,” Elijah said. Katherine elbowed him lightly to quit drawing attention to the gesture.

“She thought right,” Caroline said, taking a seat and taking a drink from the mojito they bought her. Klaus followed behind her closely and nodded his thanks to Elijah for his whiskey.

“I got us a car and parked it outside of our accommodations. We can leave for Prague in the morning,” Elijah said.

“Do you think she’ll be able to break it right there?” Caroline asked.

“I hope so. We called upon her about a century ago to help Niklaus break the hybrid curse without a doppelganger--,” Elijah began.

“And she was, of course, no help all,” Klaus cut him off.

“It was an impossible task,” Elijah said annoyed. “Her services came highly recommended.”

Katherine zoned out of the boring link talk and listened to the karaoke. When she heard the opening beats of Empire State of Mind, her eyes flew to meet Caroline’s, who sported a smile. They wordlessly drained their drinks and ran to the stage. Elijah and Klaus stared after them incredulously.

“You’re going to let us live out our rockstar fantasies,” Caroline compelled the other girls and they handed over the mics. Klaus joined Elijah on the other side of the table so he could properly see Caroline sing. The brothers clinked their glasses together and shook their heads, watching on. Katherine was a startlingly decent rapper.

Just as Caroline began to belt out her part, a wooden stake flew in from the entrance aimed dead at her heart. Caroline only had time to gasp when Katherine caught the stake only a hair from Caroline’s chest. They made eye contact for a split second before they ran behind the bar and two dozen vampires barged in. The tourists and locals alike screamed and ran.

Klaus growled and stood, flipping the table in a rage. He grabbed his chair and broke off the legs, splitting them into stakes. Elijah took two and they ran at the group. The attackers surrounded Katherine and Caroline. The girls found themselves backed into a corner, as Katherine took the lead in fighting them off. There were too many. Four of them grabbed Katherine by her limbs and threw her hard across the bar into a wall of bottles. Glass shattered everywhere and she fell into an unconscious heap, cut all over her body with pieces of glass lodged in her skin.

Caroline fought against the vampires descending on her, but she couldn’t beat them all. Two of them smiled victoriously as one of them pinned her arms behind her back and the other pulled out a stake. She struggled against the arms of her captor but whoever it was was far older and stronger than her. Suddenly, the smile fell from the man’s face. He fell to the ground in a heap and behind him stood Elijah, clutching the man’s heart in his fist. He looked at Caroline and subtly mouthed duck.

Caroline dropped her head down and Elijah slapped the other man so hard his head went flying. Caroline freed herself of the decapitated man’s arms and Elijah turned around swiftly to find Klaus fighting eight vampires single handedly. Ten more ran at Elijah and Caroline. Caroline stole a quick glance at Katherine, who otherwise remained untouched. They were here for Caroline.

Klaus killed the vampires on him with near ease. He ripped out hearts, tore off heads, and drove the chair legs into their chests. He ran over to Elijah and Caroline, who were fighting back-to-back. Klaus grabbed a bottle of vodka and shattered it so the end was jagged and sharp. He grabbed a pool cuesand jammed it into the chests of two vampires standing in front of each other, watching them go grey. He threw their bodies across the room and decapitated another with the bottle. Caroline could feel his bloodlust mix with her own adrenaline rush. When she caught a glimpse of him behind her attackers, she began to kick and push and throw them into his direction, knowing he would make the final kill. All she had to do was keep them from pinning her down or cornering her.

One vampire managed to strike Caroline in the face, and she lost her balance. Elijah held him by the throat when he heard Klaus yell.

“Don’t kill him,” he shouted in a rage. Elijah punched the vampire so hard he lost consciousness and threw him backward. The few remaining vampires realized their numbers were dwindling. A couple tried to run off, but Klaus caught them. He grabbed a large piece of glass from Katherine’s fall and threw it at with such force it took one of their heads clean off. Elijah ripped out two hearts at once.

The last vampire sprinted at Klaus whose back was turned as he faced the stragglers he picked off. Caroline sprinted at the last vampire and shoved her hand in his chest. She’d never done it before; she wasn’t even sure if she was strong enough. All she knew was he was attacking Klaus. Klaus turned around just in time to see Caroline rip the assailant’s heart out. An eerie quiet fell over the bar as more than twenty dead bodies laid on the ground.

“Katerina!” Elijah shouted, running to her. Caroline winced as she saw glass enter the bottom of Elijah’s shoes and as he slid onto the bed of glass on his knees. His face revealed the pain, but he did not cry out. He just lifted Katherine up into his lap. Klaus did a quick survey of bodies then picked up the unconscious attacker by the throat and threw him onto the bar. He gestured for Caroline to help him and she ran over, climbed up on the bar, and held the vampire down. Klaus grabbed a bottle of gin and poured the alcohol onto the vampire’s face. The vampire choked on the liquid and stirred back into consciousness.

“Answer every question and I might let you die fast,” Klaus growled.

“Go to Hell, hybrid,” the vampire spat, his head heavy in a weak daze.

“Have it your way,” Klaus said and picked up a small piece of glass on the floor. He grabbed the vampire’s hand and shoved the glass between his nail and his index finger. The vampire screamed in pain.

“Okay, okay,” he gave in.

“That’s better. Why are you here? I don’t know any of you,” Klaus said. Caroline looked up to hear Elijah muttering Katherine’s name, pulling the biggest shards of glass from her body.

“There’s a bounty on your girlfriend’s head, hybrid. It’s all over every vampire community in the globe,” he said, spitting out blood.

“Who’s offering to pay to have her killed?” Klaus asked.

“Hybrids like you. I don’t know where they are. We weren’t ready for the bodyguards but the next group will be,” the vampire said.

“Not likely,” Klaus replied, ripping the vampire’s heart from his chest.

“Come on,” he said quietly. Caroline hopped off the bar and walked carefully around the glass.

“We need to go, brother,” Klaus said. Elijah was cradling Katherine’s face in his lap, gently rocking with worry. He seemed not to have heard him.

“Elijah,” Caroline said softly. He looked up to find her eyes. She nodded that it would be okay to get up. He shifted then winced. The glass in his legs and feet shifted. Klaus picked Katherine’s body up from the floor into his arms. Caroline held her hand out for Elijah and he took it. She pulled his arm around her shoulders to support his weight so he could avoid digging the glass deeper into his feet.

“Are we close by?” she asked Klaus. His expression was dark with fury but he nodded. He carried Katherine’s unconscious body through the streets, catching horrified stares from the humans. Caroline grimaced imagining the headlines, but they couldn’t stop moving. What if there were more? She helped Elijah hobble to their home and grabbed a bucket from a window display of a hardware store. When they walked up, Elijah pointed to their car. Caroline helped Elijah into the car, ran to the other side, and got the door for Klaus to set Katherine in the backseat. Klaus gave Elijah the bucket.

“Get as much glass out as you can. We will be back in ten minutes,” he said shortly, slamming the door. He grabbed Caroline by the wrist and pulled her inside. She glowered at the act.

“I can walk fine,” she snapped, pulling her wrist from his grip. He ignored her and pushed her through the door by her back. They ran into Elijah and Katherine’s room first to gather all of their things. Klaus muttered under his breath curses at Katherine for her complete inability to pack light. He threw her curling iron and fifty products into her bag. He saw Caroline emptying the drawers of Elijah’s things.

“Would you hurry up?” he snipped at her. She glared at him.

“So that’s it, huh? We’re attacked and you get to go back to being an asshole? I get it. You blame me. If I die, you die. But I can’t help that, Klaus, so how about you--,” she started.

“You think this is about the link?” he shouted. She stopped cold.

“Yes?” she said as if it were obvious, crossing her arms. Klaus shook his head and zipped brought Katherine’s bag out into the living room. Caroline shook with frustration and finished putting Elijah’s things in his bag. She followed him into their bedroom.

“Then what’s your problem with me?” she asked, unable to bite her tongue.

Klaus zipped up his bag and he took a deep breath, gathering every ounce of patience he had. He walked up to Caroline and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Caroline, because I have made so many enemies and have killed so many people in the last millennium for reasons that by the day feel less and less clear, the woman my brother loves is currently bleeding out in the back seat of a car. Worse, the world found a way to weaponize you, the least deserving person in the world of any harm, against me because I deserve nothing less. You’re right. If you die, I die, but that has nothing to do with the bloody link. If you died after this link is severed, I would be the next great investor in White Oak technology. So yes, sweetheart, you are sensing a bit of frustration, but I assure you it’s directed at me. So how about you help me get the blood in the fridge to Katerina so we can drive to Prague and get you disconnected from me as fast as possible so you can live a happy life far, far from me?”

Caroline blinked at his speech and he dropped his hands from her shoulders. He put his bag over his shoulder and left the room. She took her own and followed him out. She grabbed Elijah and Katherine’s luggage and watched Klaus put the blood bags in his pockets. He walked out of the apartment without a word.

They put the luggage in the truck and Klaus handed Elijah all of the blood they had left from Katherine’s hospital run. Elijah thanked him and Klaus closed the door. Before he could open the driver’s side door, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He closed his eyes, sighed, and turned around to face Caroline. He opened his mouth to tell her to not bother with whatever she wanted to say, but she pressed her finger to his lips.

“Please don’t do this to yourself,” she whispered. She put her hand on the side of his neck, leaving a blood handprint. Klaus nestled his nose into her neck, embracing her in a tight hug which she firmly returned. They broke apart too soon, eager to get on the road.

Caroline ran to the other side of the car and climbed into the passenger seat as Klaus started the engine. She peaked behind her and saw Katherine, awake and weakly sipping more blood. Caroline reached back and held Katherine’s hand firmly. She infused her gratitude in the gesture. Katherine nodded. Caroline glanced at Elijah, who gave her a small smile. As Klaus drove away fast, she closed her eyes and let the tears fall from her eyes. They were okay. Everyone was okay.


	6. Prague

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never seen the Originals, so please disregard any contradictions with lore revealed in TO if there are any. I hope you enjoy.

The bulk of the road trip was filled with silence and the smell of alcohol and blood as Katherine, Elijah, and Caroline slept on and off. To this point, the gravity of the threat hadn’t felt real as they took in the cities, food, and music. Now, they felt that nowhere with a supernatural presence was safe.

Klaus was livid about the night’s events. He was the hybrid. He ran from nobody. Tonight, though, he found himself glancing in the rearview mirror frequently to make sure nobody followed them out. He gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white beneath the crusted blood on his hand. Caroline carefully raised her hand and brought it to the back of his neck, stroking his hair to calm him. She felt him relax at her touch and a wave of affection went through her.

Katherine woke up stiff. The blood and the rest helped but she could feel where the biggest pieces of glass had nicked her organs and a light soreness where her body had hit the shelves. Hundreds of microscopic pieces of glass embedded themselves in her skin, too small for Elijah to pick out in the moonlight.

“How are you feeling, Katerina?” Elijah asked, putting a comforting hand on her knee.

“Like I got thrown into a wall of booze and now I smell like Damon,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. Caroline smiled at the insult.

“Oh, no. Caroline, how’s my hair?” Katherine asked, not trusting Elijah not to lie to her.

“It’s…” the blonde trailed off.

“Ew,” Katherine said, feeling the matted mess behind her. She looked down at the bucket full of glass shards and glanced at Elijah.

“Did you do that?” she asked.

“There might still be some. I did the best I could,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said, putting her hand on his.

“Driver, where are we?” she asked. Klaus smirked, somewhat relieved to hear her happy, sarcastic Katerina voice.

“Almost there. We have a flat near city center. It’s been sitting a while, but Kol had it cleaned recently. He was planning on going back soon,” Klaus said. Caroline felt a mix of his grief and his guilt.

“Thank God. I need a shower ASAP,” Katherine groaned.

They pulled up in front of a mid-sized house on the edge of the city. As they all got out of the car and gathered their belongings, Caroline brushed Klaus’s hand with hers in a short comforting gesture, but he still wore tension from the events of the night on his face.

When they walked in the house, Klaus and Elijah split up to check every room as Caroline and Katherine looked around their new temporary home. It was beautiful but simpler than they anticipated. Caroline was reminded of the small house in Ireland and how perfectly it fit into the landscape. Soon, the brothers came back to the door and confirmed it was empty.

Before the couples split up to their respective sides of the house to fall into a needed and deserved sleep, Caroline turned to Katherine and pulled her into a hug.

“Thank you,” she said. It wasn’t lost on her that Katherine was hurt protecting her, that Katherine had caught the stake that would have ended her life and stood between her and a dozen vampires.

“I’ve had worse. Don’t worry,” Katherine replied, but hugged her back tentatively. The girls pulled away and Elijah took Katherine’s bag off her shoulder. He put his hand on her back and they started to walk toward the left side of the house.

“Katerina,” they heard. Katherine stopped and turned to see Klaus looking after her.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. She froze.

“You too.”

Elijah insisted on looking at Katherine in the warm light of their bedroom and, sure enough, saw tiny bits of glass in her forehead.

“Come here, baby,” he said. She stood still in front of him as he carefully picked the pieces out of her skin.

“Thanks. It’s all kind of all blending together over here,” she said, and Elijah saw she was in more pain than she had let on. Her body could only heal where the glass had been removed, and the tiny bits scratched at her all over.

“Tell me none of them live to tell the tale of tossing me around like a rag doll,” she said, irritated and embarrassed.

“You’ve never seen vampires more dead,” he smiled. Katherine returned it.

“You didn’t run tonight. You would have before,” he observed.

“Yeah, well, they’re growing on me,” she said.

“Oh, _they_ are?” Elijah said.

“ _She_. She’s growing on me. She’s… shrill, but she’s got fire,” Katherine corrected herself. Elijah mocked her voice playfully.

“’You expect Klaus and I to be friends? Sit around the Christmas fire?’” he quoted her words from only days ago back at her.

“You could be less smug,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And your American accent sucks.”

Elijah laughed and kissed her forehead before she left to clean the alcohol, blood, and glass out of her curls and skin.

* * *

“I don’t even want to know what I look like,” Caroline grimaced as she walked into their spacious bathroom. Her hair was still in the braid Katherine had done for her after their night in Amsterdam. Though it was two nights prior, it felt like forever ago. The braid was matted and caked with blood a flight, a road trip, several miles on foot, and killing several vampires later. She looked in the mirror and saw dried drops of blood all over her face, clothes, and arms and grimaced. She saw Klaus in the reflection watching her.

“Nothing sexier than a hand caked in old blood for five hours, huh?” she tried to joke as she turned the faucet on. Klaus felt her blend of embarrassment, exhaustion, and anxiety. He tentatively walked up to her and sat on the bathroom sink, picking up a folded hand towel and wetting it in the stream. He gathered her hand in his and began to clean the blood.

“Nothing sexier than you ripping out a vampire’s heart because they’re running at me even though I’m immortal? I’m inclined to agree with you,” Klaus said with warmth in his voice. Caroline blushed.

“Sometimes I forget that part,” she said. As he scrubbed her hand, she looked up at him and saw the handprint she left on his neck.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. He joked back at her.

“’I’m so sorry, Klaus, for getting blood on you after I defended you from an imminent attack,’” he said, mocking her voice and facial expression. He batted his eyelashes at her. Caroline laughed and playfully shoved his arm.

“You think you’re hilarious,” she said. His smile fell as he looked at her intensely.

“I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you tonight,” Klaus said, holding her face in his hand. Caroline leaned into the touch.

“Well, you would be dead,” she whispered teasingly.

“Sometimes I forget that part,” he said, smiling. Caroline smiled. Klaus got off of the sink and carefully pulled her into a hug. He still acted as though she would pull away from him at any moment. Caroline wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her forehead against his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him. He ran his hands up and down her arms softly.

“Why do you feel guilty when you think about Kol?” Caroline whispered into his neck. Klaus stiffened but he didn’t let go of her.

“I can’t exactly miss somebody I stuck in a box for a hundred years, can I? The doppelganger and her brother cut his life short… so did I,” he said.

“You don’t need to earn grief, Klaus,” she said. He pulled away to look at her. Since he met Caroline, he knew he wanted her. He thought he loved her, too. He did in his own way where he admired, respected, and cared for her, but if she got in his way, he would hurt her still, though it would be painful to do it. Now, he loved her anew, in every part of himself, so much so it was vulnerable and frustrating. He would kill anybody who endangered her the way he had before. He wondered if she felt how it’d changed. He pressed his palm to her chest.

“Do you feel this?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” she replied, tears stinging her eyes. She never imagined anybody could look at her and feel the way he did.

They stood there in the quiet, small bathroom. The weeks they’d spent together flashed before Caroline’s eyes. She thought about how perfectly his jacket fit on her shoulders and how warm his laugh was and how he always gave her the bigger half of the food they split. She thought about how his shirts hugged his arms and how he listened to her rants.

Klaus pulled his hand back and Caroline immediately missed the warmth. He brushed her arms with his hands and stepped back.

“You take the first shower. I’ll wait,” he said. He turned around and walked toward the door.

“Klaus?” she called after him. He turned around. She hesitated only for a moment.

“Will you clean the rest of this blood off?” she asked. Her heart thundered in her chest, waiting for him to reject her. Her mind spun insecure possibilities.

Klaus’s gaze quieted her thoughts, as his eyes expressed even half the longing he felt. He walked slowly toward her and, without dropping his gaze, opened the shower door and turned on the water. He closed it and took her hand in his, bringing it up to his mouth. He kissed her palm tenderly. Suddenly, he grabbed her hips and pulled her body into his, so she was completely pressed against him. Caroline hummed at the way he handled her. She wanted to turn herself over to him.

Caroline wrapped her arms around his neck and crashed her lips on his. He kissed her back fiercely, bringing his hands to her back and pulling her in so tight it would have hurt a human. Caroline opened her mouth and felt his tongue press against hers. He shoved her into the wall behind her and moved his mouth to her neck, leaving a trail of kisses down it. Caroline wrapped her fingers in his hair as he kissed, licked, and sucked on her neck. He brought his face back up to meet hers, turning his attention to kissing her. Klaus gently bit her bottom lip and pressed his thigh between her legs, pinning her to the wall. She shamelessly grinded against his thigh and waves of pleasure built in her.

Klaus pulled back to watch her as she moved on his thigh. He wanted to watch her enjoy it. Before now, Caroline might have felt embarrassed by somebody watching her like that. She would have stopped and focused on him. The way Klaus stared at her, though, showed he wanted nothing more than for her to feel amazing over and over again. She blushed but kept herself from closing her eyes or looking away. She held his gaze and pressed against him.

She brought her hands to the hem of his shirt and pulled it up. Klaus dutifully raised his arms and smiled as she undressed him. He pulled her shirt over her head and took in the sight of Caroline in a bra in front of him. Caroline undid the button of his pants and brought her hand down his underwear, holding him hard in her hand. Klaus grunted in her ear at the movement while she continued to press down on his thigh, rocking back and forth. She could feel his ecstasy as she stroked him.

Klaus unbuttoned Caroline’s pants and got on his knees to pull them down off of her. Caroline lifted one foot at a time as he tugged them down. When he threw her jeans aside, Klaus stayed on his knees, kissing up her legs and thighs as he slowly stood back up to meet her mouth with his. Caroline mirrored the gesture, getting on the ground to pull his pants off of him. She spent only a second gathering the boldest sides of herself before she slipped Klaus’s underwear down with them. She teased him, licking his dick and swirling her tongue around the head. He looked down at her in awe. She took her time coming back up, kissing his thighs and traveling up to his abs. She ran her tongue up his muscles and laid trails of kisses up his chest and his neck before kissing him again.

Klaus looked at her one last time for confirmation, a questioning look on his face as he brought his hand to the back of her bra. She nodded feverishly and he undid the clasp of her bra in a swift movement. She pulled it off quickly and pressed her bare chest to his, kissing him deeply. Klaus put his fingers in the elastic of her panties and pulled them down her thighs, staying in the kiss. Caroline pushed them down with her feet and flung them across the bathroom.

Klaus lifted her suddenly by her ass with ease, and she let out a giddy squeal as she wrapped her legs around his waist and he opened the shower door, carrying her under the stream of water. Klaus stared at her plump lips and wide eyes and smiled. Caroline melted under the warmth and desire in his eyes.

“Hold on,” Klaus said, setting her down on her feet in front of him. “You asked me for a favor.” He reached behind her and undid her braid, combing his fingers through her hair as the blood rinsed down the drain. Caroline closed her eyes and let out a content hum at the feeling of the hot water and his hands in her hair.

He grabbed a bottle of shampoo and squirted it into his hands and lathered her hair. She leaned forward into him, kissing and sucking on his neck. She reached her hand down to play with his cock as he cleaned her hair. His breath hitched as she played with him.

“You don’t make anything easy, do you?” he asked.

“That’s the part you like,” she replied in a raspier tone than he’d ever heard come out of her mouth. It made Klaus somehow want her even more. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back to rinse her hair in the shower stream. He felt her arousal intensify when he handled her roughly and smiled, making a mental note.

Klaus took a generous amount of her body wash and began to lather her chest, wiping away the blood stains from her perfect skin. Caroline watched him as he worked the body wash down her body. She could feel his desire and contentment to simply feel her everywhere. He wanted her. He wanted to fuck her, he wanted her to yell his name, he wanted to make her orgasm harder than she ever had. He also felt so lucky for the simple act of her trusting him to touch her and kiss her and taste her.

He pulled her in closer by her hips, reaching around and lathering her back, the backs of her thighs, and her ass. He grabbed her ass indulgently and she smiled.

“I knew you were an ass man,” she whispered into his neck. She could feel his blood pumping beneath his skin.

“I’m an every part of you man,” he replied, kissing her neck and her shoulder. Caroline touched his face, bringing it to hers.

“Can I taste you?” she asked, staring into his eyes. Klaus smirked and nodded. She dug her teeth into his neck, drinking deeply. Suddenly, she felt his thumb on her clit, gently rubbing her in small circles. She felt euphoric as he played with her and she could taste his blood on her tongue. Klaus pushed two fingers inside of her and brought his other hand to roll her nipple between his fingers. The stimulation compounded until she felt herself moving her hips along to his movements on her clit. He rubbed her and fingered her inside until her orgasm built and built.

“Cum for me, love,” he whispered in her ear. Caroline released his neck, licking the single drop of blood that dripped from his neck as waves of pleasure coursed from her pussy through her whole body: into her thighs, her head, her fingertips. She felt high as tingles reverberated in her whole body. She realized she was rocking into his hand involuntarily. She gripped his solid shoulders to keep herself from falling over. Klaus released her nipple and slowed down with his fingers just when she needed him to. How did he know exactly when to speed up and slow down? She smiled as she realized.

“You’re using the link,” she said. Their longing for each other was an endless feedback loop. Her wanting him made him want her more and vice versa. He was feeling her pleasure heighten when he touched her.

“Am I?” he asked, kissing up her neck and brushing her clit lightly, sending an aftershock through her body. Caroline’s breath hitched.

“Y- yes. That’s cheating,” she smiled, leaning her head back as a blissful calm spread throughout her body. She felt Klaus’s fingers leave her pussy and he brought them up to his mouth. Her eyes widened as he took one of his fingers in his mouth and licked her cum off of it. He held the other out to her and he felt her get nervous.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But I think it’d be unfair if I was the only one who got to taste you,” Klaus said, bringing his other hand to her hip. He traced his finger up and down the curve of her waist. She tentatively opened her mouth, and he pressed his finger into her mouth. Caroline had never tasted herself but was pleasantly surprised as she found herself lightly sucking on his finger. When he pulled it back, he pressed a deep kiss to her.

She closed her eyes and leaned into him, not realizing he had gathered conditioner in his hand until he began work it into her hair. She released a content moan. She broke the kiss and looked up at him as he lathered her hair. Caroline had always been the girl to never stay the night. She liked sex; she had liked sex for years. She was always more hesitant about intimacy. As she gazed at him, she realized she’d never been in a more intimate position in her life.

“Can I taste _you_ now?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. At this command, Klaus pushed her hard against the wall behind her and she felt herself get wet again at the act. She tilted her neck to the side to let him feed, but Klaus lifted her by her ass instead until her breasts were at his mouth. She wrapped her legs strong around his waist. He took her nipple in his mouth and licked and sucked on it until she found herself writhing for him again. She ground her hips into his torso, bopping up and down against him as he sucked on her tits.

“Fuck, Klaus,” she moaned. He switched nipples and worked on the other until it almost hurt how much she’d built up but couldn’t cum.

“Please,” Caroline whispered. Klaus set her down suddenly and got on his knees. He lifted one of her legs to rest on his shoulder and he pressed his hot mouth to her clit. He licked and sucked her clit as she moved against his face. She greedily grabbed his wet curls in her fingers, guiding him with her movements.

“Oh my God,” she moaned. Caroline felt her orgasm build and build until she came undone. Klaus again knew just when to slow down and stop. Her legs were shaky under her after orgasming again. Klaus looked up at her with pride. With no warning, he grabbed the backs of her legs so she fell forward. She yelped as she slipped, but Klaus caught her before she collided with the ground and gently sat her on her knees. She laughed lightly at the jolt of adrenaline.

“You are unreal,” she said, pushing him backward so he sat on the floor of the shower. She straddled him, her knees on either side of his hips. Klaus brought his hands to her waist. He felt down to her hips, her thighs, her calves, and then back up again. He stroked her back, her stomach, her chest, everywhere, just gently touching everywhere he could.

“I will need you forever,” he said, brushing her wet curls off of her neck and tracking her neck with his fingers. Caroline stared into his eyes. As much as she had denied it to herself when Elena said, in all of her no humanity glory, that she had nasty thoughts about Klaus, she was right. She had thought about exactly this more than once in the middle of the night. She envisioned it lusty, quick, and dirty. It was certainly hot, but this felt hotter. Klaus infused his love for her in every touch.

“You need to be inside me,” Caroline said in return. Klaus held her face with his hand and kissed her hard as he gripped her ass and lowered her onto his cock. He felt her gasp as she got used to the feeling of him inside her. She was soaked from the events of the night. As the shower rained down on them, they realized how much they’d lost a sense of time. Klaus gently lifted Caroline up and down.

“Klaus,” she whimpered. Each time she fell onto him he felt deeper than she’d ever experienced. She dug her nails into his chest as he scratched at her thighs. Caroline bounced faster and faster until they were both on the verge of climaxing.

“Cum with me, love,” he whispered. As Klaus came inside of her, Caroline climaxed on him. He brought his mouth to tease her nipple as she rode the peak of the orgasm and it intensified her pleasure. She rolled her head back as she rode the peak. He felt her come down and let go.

They both looked at each other for moment before they broke out into a light, incredulous laughter.

“What just happened?” she asked, smiling. She had never experienced anything like that.

“I have no idea… you are exquisite, Caroline,” he said, kissing her. She held his face in her hands and kissed him back slowly.

Caroline smiled and stretched to reach for the products. She made the water hotter, which had gotten gone cool in all of their preoccupation, and lathered Klaus’s curls with shampoo. Klaus closed her eyes as she washed his hair.

“Lean back,” she whispered. She rinsed his hair with her hands, and his expression went soft at her touch. Caroline washed his body and made sure to pay special care to make sure the ticklish spot on his wrist was absolutely extra clean. Klaus rolled his eyes at her antics, trying not to laugh.

When they stepped out of the shower, Klaus shook his hair out so a light spray of water hit her face. She playfully shoved him.

“You _are_ a wolf,” she said.

“Among other things,” he replied, lifting her into his arms and carrying her into their room.

The exhaustion from the crowded day hit them like a truck as they crawled between the fresh sheets. The last thing Klaus remembered before sleep took him fast was Caroline kissing his eyelids after they closed.

* * *

The four left early the next morning to find the witch, Eva Novotný, in her small magic shop in city center. They traveled on foot, keeping an eye out for anyone watching them. They felt safer walking around during the day where vampires without daylight rings couldn’t attack, but they agreed they shouldn’t go out again until they’ve severed the link.

“All I’m saying is, you’re robbing me of watching Caroline’s face when she tries Trdelnik for the first time,” Katherine complained. Klaus shut her down.

“Caroline trying yet another European dessert will not part the sea. And you were the one who got hurt last night! Surely Katerina “Self-Preservation” Petrova recognizes the risk/reward for one pastry.”

“Have you had Trdelnik?” Katherine asked. Klaus glowered at her.

“No.”

“Then you don’t know.”

They walked into the magic shop, which stood where it had a hundred years prior. Klaus rang the service bell twice and an elderly woman came in from the back of the store. She should have been dead, but she didn’t look a day over 70. A flicker of recognition came over her face at the brothers. It was quickly replaced by anger.

“What were you thinking?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Good morning to you too, Eva. Been a while. Do you have some sort of eternal rent control spell on this place? You can’t make that much,” Klaus said, leaning on his elbows on the counter.

“Do you have any idea the work you made for the covens in Hungary having to cover up a massacre like that? To keep the photos of you out of the papers? Over twenty bodies?” she asked.

“Yes, how dare we flee with our lives?” he retorted. She raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t think you one to flee ever,” she said. Elijah put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“Please extend our gratitude to your friends who took care of the situation,” he said warmly. Eva looked at him curiously. Since when did originals care at all about covering their tracks?

“We were hoping you can help us with a magical problem,” he said.

“And I thought you came all the way to Central Europe to say hello,” Eva replied.

“Klaus is linked to my friend Caroline,” he said, gesturing to the blonde vampire.

“Nice to meet you,” Caroline said, feeling uncomfortable.

“Linking magic? How?” Eva asked, walking around the desk to meet them.

“A month ago, a witch sealed me in a room and bound the spell with the full moon. Caroline…” Klaus shifted his weight as he remembered impaling her on the broken lamp. It felt like so long ago.

“I got in the barrier with him. We’ve been linked since,” Caroline finished. Eva approached them and felt their linked energies permeate the air.

“I sense it has gotten more severe? That is certainly abnormal. How far can you travel from one another?” she asked.

“It was about 250 metres, but we haven’t exactly pushed it,” Klaus said.

“Will you test it again?” she asked. Klaus and Caroline looked at each other, confused. They hadn’t considered that the distance may have changed. They hadn’t left each other’s side since they were in France and, even then, it was only when Klaus left to get coffee downstairs.

“Go with her,” Klaus said firmly to his brother. Elijah nodded and the pair left the store. He brushed Katherine’s elbow on his way out the door.

“So, you guys do this good cop/bad cop thing often?” Caroline asked, smiling. Elijah laughed lightly.

“I wish I could say it was planned, though we’ve certainly perfected it over the centur—Caroline!” Elijah shouted out when Caroline crumbled to the ground in pain, coughing up blood. He pulled her back a couple of paces from where they came from. He looked around. It didn’t make sense; they were barely one shop away.

“Are you okay?” he asked, laying a gentle hand on her back. She wiped the blood from her mouth and nodded weakly.

“Yeah; I’m fine,” she said. She took Elijah’s hand and he helped her to her feet. They were back at the shop in seconds.

Klaus crossed the shop in just a few steps, taking Caroline’s chin in his hand to inspect her face.

“I’m alright,” she assured him. Eva walked over to the pair.

“May I touch you?” she asked, raising her hands to hover above Caroline and Klaus’s chests. After a moment of hesitation from Klaus, they nodded. Eva pressed her hands to their chests and closed her eyes, muttering in Latin. After a moment, she looked up.

“The magic is feeding on your affection for each other. Linking magic is uncommon. I have only seen it once myself, but they tried desperately to reject it. They stayed in separate homes at least. You two have… utilized it, it seems,” she said. Caroline blinked and involuntarily took a step back. The gesture stung Klaus.

“What happens if we don’t fix it fast?” he growled.

“The effects of being apart will happen with less and less distance until it shuts your body down from the inside out. I’m not sure if you could survive the effects as the hybrid, but her…” Eva trailed off, gesturing toward Caroline.

“Then he’d die anyway,” Elijah finished for her. Eva nodded.

“How do they break it?” Katherine interjected. The witched looked up in surprise. She’d heard of the legendary Katherine Pierce and her rivalry with the hybrid. Eva grabbed a book from a shelf behind the front desk and flipped to a page. She turned the book around to face Katherine, who pulled her phone out and took a photo of it.

“I’ve only ever heard of one way to do it with this kind of linking magic. First, it needs to be done by the witch who put up the initial barrier--,” Eva began.

“She’s a bit unavailable at the moment, but we can make her cooperate,” Klaus interrupted.

“That’s not the hard part,” she said.

“What’s the hard part?” Caroline asked. Katherine spoke up, reading aloud from the grimoire.

“A living blood relative. You need a living blood relative.” She slammed the book closed, anger radiating from her. “Fuck! What are we going to do?” She looked at Caroline, who backed into the wall behind her and slid down to the floor, cradling her knees. Klaus paced back and forth through the room.

“There’s no other way?” Elijah asked.

“Not that I’ve heard of in over a century. I’m sorry,” Eva said. Klaus went through his family tree in his head as he paced. Mikael killed Klaus’s biological father and his entire family. He hadn’t had other children before Mikael killed him. Esther had no siblings. The line dried up with them.

“Will you give us a moment, Ms. Novotný?” Elijah asked. She looked curiously at him and nodded, excusing herself into the back office.

“We can’t just let them die, Elijah. We’ll go back to Mystic Falls and torture Bonnie until she comes up with some kind of plan,” Katherine said. Caroline snapped her head up to glare at her.

“That is not happening,” she hissed. Katherine clenched her jaw.

“It won’t be necessary,” Elijah said quietly. Klaus stopped pacing and looked up at his brother.

“What do you mean, Elijah?” he asked slowly.

“You might want to sit down, Niklaus.” Klaus made no move to sit. All eyes were on Elijah, who took a deep breath and began to let go of a burden he’d carried for centuries.

“Over a thousand years ago, when we were still human, we lived in a village among the werewolves. Rebekah fell in love with one of them, a young man named Suni. They kept it a secret from everybody but you, Niklaus,” he said. Klaus looked puzzled; he didn’t know any of this. He kept his mouth shut, waiting for him to continue.

“Rebekah discovered she was pregnant. She was terrified of what our father would say or do to her or her beloved. She told all of us except our father and bound us to secrecy. She was slower on her feet and didn’t tend to her chores how father wanted. Father would get so angry that things weren’t right, so, Niklaus, you… you caught lashings for antagonizing him so he wouldn’t pester our sister and she could rest. You distracted him for her,” he continued. He cleared his throat, willing himself to not get emotional. Caroline brought her hands to her face.

“Ayana helped our mother conceal Rebekah showing from our father and we devised a plan such that the baby would be hidden in Ayana’s home and we would take turns leaving to care for it. The day Rebekah gave birth was… was the day Henrick died. She had a son. She named him Nik,” he said. A tear fell down Klaus’s face. Caroline could feel it on her own.

“Though we were grief-stricken from losing our brother, taking care of the baby sort of carried us through the tragedy. When our father came up with the plan to turn us into vampires, our mother panicked. She could not fight against him. She decided to keep the family together after we turned, raise the child as planned, and let him decide when he got older if he wanted to turn or not.

“After we made the transition, however, and Suni realized what monsters we’d become, he insisted on raising the child himself. Rebekah didn’t want to give Nik up, so Suni’s parents attempted to negotiate with our father for the right to the baby. Of course, father had no idea he existed… They came the day triggered your werewolf curse. Father ran to Ayana’s house, where we all were, intent on killing the baby. He said--,” Elijah cleared his throat, tears welling in his eyes.

“He said there would not be another bastard wolf in this family.” Elijah looked up at his brother, who shook with rage and devastation.

“Why do you know this and I do not?” he asked quietly.

“Father couldn’t get into Ayana’s house because he had not been invited. We stayed inside for days, afraid to leave, but we were running out of food. When Rebekah and the baby were sleeping, Ayana told Kol, Finn, and I that a life on the run from our father would not be good for the baby. We agreed. Father was dangerous, unrelenting, and Nik needed to be protected. Ayana knew if she tried to take him, though, Rebekah would track her down and kill her to get her child back. She decided to cast a spell to take Rebekah’s memories of ever having had the child. Spells that affect memory are powerful and draining and she could not do it to us all. She decided to include you, Niklaus, because… because you’d bonded so closely with the child that you would never let her take him. If nothing else, you would tell our sister. Ayana cast the spell on you both as you slept and fled with Nik.”

Katherine stood up and turned from Elijah, leaning her forehead into the wall behind her. Soft tears fell from her eyes. Klaus stared at his brother.

“That explains why I did not know then. Why do I not know now?” he whispered.

“Niklaus, over the centuries, you have been… angry, vengeful, and unpredictable. We feared what you might do if you knew we had descendants,” he said. Klaus looked like he’d been struck across the face. The room fell into a long silence.

“She didn’t even get to say goodbye to her son,” Katherine said, not turning around.

“Katerina,” Elijah started. Katherine shook her head and walked out the front door of the shop. Elijah ran after her.

Caroline looked up at Klaus, who stood shaking in the middle of the room. She slowly got to her feet. This was the Klaus she knew before. She felt his emotions as her own: rage, devastation, betrayal, guilt, and rejection. It was a cocktail of volatility. She slowly walked toward him.

“Klaus,” she whispered, reaching her hand out to his shoulder. He dodged her touch and rang the bell.

“Oh, Eva?” he sang. The witch walked into the doorway of the back office, watching him cautiously.

“Now, _what_ are we going to do with you, love?” he asked.

“Klaus, stop,” Caroline said, walking to stand between them.

“’Klaus, stop’? You realize that if this information gets out, they will find whoever remains of my bloodline and yours. I wonder who they’ll find first?” he asked. Caroline thought of her mother making coffee, going to work, entirely unknowing that her death would prolong the vulnerability of the most powerful and loathed creature on the planet.

“But perhaps they haven’t considered learning how to break the link! After all, that’s only the first thing we’d try. Sure, why hurt Liz Forbes if I have no living relatives? It’d be pointless. But the second they discover what only five souls on the planet know, us and _this witch_ , your mother is at the top of the hit list. But you’re right, Caroline. ‘Klaus, stop!’ Let’s leave this end loose!” he growled at her.

“I know you’re upset--,” she started.

“No, Caroline, I’m being logical,” he cut her off and turned to Eva. “How much longer does your magic work to prolong death anyway? Twenty more years if that?” he said.

“I’m not afraid of death, hybrid,” Eva glowered.

“Isn’t that convenient for the both of us?” he remarked. The witch’s expression faltered. She’d heard about his relentlessness. Even if she could get away now, he would find a way to make her suffer, and her family along with her.

“Klaus!” Caroline shouted. “She’s done nothing but help us. You’re not killing her. We will find your descendants first. I’ll get my friends at home to watch my mom. It doesn’t have to be like this. You don’t have to be like this.” Klaus glared at her and clenched his jaw. He looked at Eva.

“Run. Now. If you tell anybody about today, I will tear you apart,” he growled. Eva left the store as fast as she could.

Klaus grabbed Caroline by the shoulders.

“Are you done reigning me in?” he said, seething. Caroline shook her arms free and pushed him away from her.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so inconvenient!”

“Bloody right you’ve been! Do you know what I would have done if I found out that my siblings kept this from me all these years? He would have ended up in a box! Instead, here I am, sparing witches, sparing Katerina, sparing Tyler, feeling guilty all the time because of you!” he shouted. Caroline stepped backward, crossing her arms.

“I am not Elena, Klaus! I am not Captain Save-a-Vamp! I’m not going to stand here and beg you to be a better person for me. I am telling you that we had a deal. White paint, remember? I can’t be with you if you are killing like that. I am _here_ _with you_ , every day. What did you think this was going to be? Did you think that you’d finally get me after all of the chasing, you’d get your weird victory over Tyler, and you wouldn’t have to give anything up? Are you _that_ entitled?” she screamed.

Klaus flinched. What had he expected? Every day, he felt how empathetic, forgiving, and eager to do the right thing she was. On one hand, loving her was the one experience in his thousand years he felt most grateful for. On the other, he’d experienced guilt in ways he never had. He reflected on his impulses and actions in ways he never had. Was this what loving somebody really did? In this moment, he longed for the simplicity of who he was before he fell in love with her, _really_ fell in love with her. He longed for how quick and easy it was to kill those who disappointed him or even those who stood in his way of getting what he wanted. He longed for how sure he used to feel about everything he did.

Before her, though, those things were still there: a small voice in the back of his head and the tears that sprung to his eyes when he stabbed his siblings. Had Caroline and the act of loving her simply brought those things to the surface which had previously been omnipresent, buried deep inside?

“What does it say about me?” he whispered. “That they kept it from me? That they could ever think I would have hurt my own nephew, his children, his grandchildren?” he asked. Caroline met his shameful eyes.

“Would you have?” she asked softly. Klaus looked back at her. Daggering his siblings was… punishment. It was never permanent or meant to harm them, just to teach them a lesson for crossing him. Could he have harmed Nik or his family had he been provoked properly?

“I don’t know,” Klaus whispered. He collapsed to his knees and tears poured from his eyes. Caroline was on the ground beside him in an instant, wrapping her arms around him. Any part of him that would typically be mortified by such a display of vulnerability was quelled as he felt Caroline’s emotions. She wasn’t smug about his tears. He recognized in her what he’d only felt himself once in his life, toward her: love. All love.

* * *

Katherine was gone in seconds. Elijah sighed and went back home, hoping to find her there. When he walked in the door, he found her lying on the couch, silent tears streaming down her face onto the throw pillow beneath her. She stared into nothingness without acknowledging Elijah’s presence.

“Are you upset with me?” he asked. Katherine sniffed and continued to stare into the wall. She was quiet for a moment before she spoke.

“I spent the last five hundred years on the run. I know it’s no way for a kid to grow up,” she said quietly. Elijah walked over to the couch and sat beside her, brushing her hair from her face.

“That doesn’t mean this isn’t the single most difficult subject that can possibly come up,” he said, gently petting her hair. Katherine reached her hand out and Elijah took it gently, tracing circles on her fingers. She continued to stare into the void.

“Sometimes it’s like… like I can still feel her. Like she’s still here. Will that ever stop?” she whispered, finally looking up at him. Elijah wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

“I don’t know, Katerina,” he said. She sat up and curled up in his lap, pressing her face into his neck. He stroked her hair with one hand and placed the other on her knee. They sat in silence for a few minutes. He felt her tears slow then stop. She nuzzled him and placed a gentle kiss to his jaw.

“Perhaps we can have a child of our own someday,” Elijah said. Katherine pulled back and looked at him incredulously.

“And a white picket fence? Because those seem… risky,” she said, smirking.

“I’m serious,” he said softly.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, Elijah, but things are a bit impossible in that department,” she said.

“Babies are too often abandoned, and some put in particularly bad homes. It would require some moving around and compelling people in the area, but we could give them a good life. I know you would love and care for a child with the commitment you apply to everything else,” he said, bringing his hand to her cheek.

“Has that ever even been done?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Though we are nothing if not abnormal,” he said. She smiled softly.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you. Don’t worry about it yet. Our lives are the very definition of ‘no rush’,” he said, smiling. She nodded and brought her head back down to his shoulder, letting indulgent daydreams of a different life with him comfort her.

* * *

On their way back home, Caroline called Stefan and told him about their plan and that her mother needed to be watched carefully. None of the hybrids had been invited into the Forbes’ house, so Stefan, Damon, and Elena would move in until Klaus and Caroline returned. Damon and Elena were confused and hated being left out of what they knew was a massive secret, but they cooperated. After all, it was for Liz.

When they stepped onto the front porch, Klaus took Caroline’s elbow in his hand and gave her a pleading look. She felt his worry. _Are we okay?_ he wanted to ask. Caroline laced her fingers with his and gave him a reassuring kiss to his hand. He gave her a small smile back. She turned to open the door and Klaus brushed her back lightly with his open palm as they walked in the door.

When they walked in, they saw Katherine and Elijah sitting on the couch drinking tea together. Elijah met his brother’s eyes.

“Niklaus,” he began. Klaus raised his hand to silence him. It wasn’t a conversation for today. Katherine spotted a paper plate in Caroline’s hands with four wrapped rolled pastries.

“Caroline,” Katherine said softly. “You are being hunted down, you were down two bodyguards, and you stopped to get me Trdelnik?” Caroline smiled and walked over to the kitchen, placing the plate on the counter.

“You talked about it all morning,” she said before disappearing into their side of the house. Katherine looked over at Klaus. They were both emotionally drained and saw it in each other’s eyes.

“Sorry I bailed on protect Caroline duty,” she said. Klaus walked up and patted her on the shoulder twice. She looked up at him with surprise.

“Don’t think of it,” he said before taking a seat next to his brother.

“I assume you’ve kept track of Rebekah’s grandchildren?” he asked.

“We have one living nephew, Ben Scott. He’s an only child and orphan. His parents died in a house fire a year ago,” he said. Klaus furrowed his eyebrows.

“Where is he? How old is he?”

“He’s twenty-two. He lives in Las Vegas,” he said. Caroline ran into the room carrying every blanket and pillow she could find from their bedroom and the guest room.

“Las Vegas!?” she said, dancing on her toes. Klaus shook his head at her enthusiasm.

“Love, tell me you are not in Prague and doing your happy dance for poker and strippers,” he said.

“I am in a house in Prague on lock-down and doing a happy dance for a giant city-sized playground I’ve never been to,” she replied.

“There’s one more thing, Niklaus,” Elijah said. “The fire that killed his parents. Ben had been smoking and thought he’d put his cigarette out when he hadn’t. Rebekah’s lover was a wolf,” he said. Niklaus rubbed his eyes and let out a long breath.

“He activated his werewolf gene,” he whispered.

“Well, isn’t this nice and complicated?” Katherine said.

“We’ll have to go tomorrow then,” Klaus said. A wave of exhaustion hit the group. They were tired of being constantly on the move, but if the hybrids found out that Ben was all that stood between Klaus being invulnerable and being killable, they would have him killed immediately.

Caroline pushed the coffee table against a wall and spread the blankets out on the living room floor. She grabbed the couch where Katherine sat and pulled it backward. Katherine looked up at her friend with an amused expression.

“Hey, Caroline. Whatcha doin?” she asked. Caroline grabbed the desserts off the counter and placed them on the coffee table.

“We are vegging out. Movies, pajamas, booze. We have had enough emotional anvil dropping for one day,” she said, placing the pillows on the ground. She held her hand out Katherine, who rolled her eyes and took it. Caroline pulled her down on the ground to sit with her and grabbed the remote.

“My shadow-self told you, didn’t she?” Katherine muttered. Caroline shrugged, barely acknowledging the question. Katherine gently rested her head on her friend’s shoulder.

“Drinks?” Caroline looked up at Klaus with an innocent smile. He shook his head at her transparent manipulations and walked into the kitchen. His brother followed him.

“You have him wrapped around your finger,” Katherine remarked, grabbing the remote.

“I heard that, Katerina,” Klaus called from the kitchen.

“Oh, no! Not you hearing me!”

Elijah grabbed four glasses as Klaus opened the liquor cabinet.

“I would have told you eventually,” Elijah said quietly.

“Maybe,” his brother said. When Elijah turned back around, Klaus stood in front of him, holding Elijah’s favorite brandy in his hand: a peace offering. He smiled and took it.

Klaus opened the fridge only to find several bags of blood.

“Bless you, Kol,” he said. “He had it stocked!” Feeding had become difficult with the travel, being hunted, and having to give their supply to heal Katherine the night before.

The brothers made drinks and popcorn and any tension on them from the day’s events melted off of them. They brought the girls a glass of blood and a mixed drink either.

“Oh, you’re kidding,” Caroline said, happily reaching for the blood. Katherine grabbed her pastry from the coffee table and dipped it in the blood, taking a bite. Caroline looked at her in amused surprise. She was so used to feeding in back rooms by herself. Matt, Bonnie, and her mom tried to keep a straight face, but drinking blood would never not be gross to humans. She felt guilty drinking human blood around Stefan, knowing the smell tempted him so much it hurt.

“What? You have to try it,” Katherine said, grabbing her dessert for her. Caroline looked around the room and saw three pairs of warm eyes on her. She dipped the pastry in the blood and took a tentative bite.

“Oh, my God. This is heavenly,” she said. Klaus tried it himself and saw Katherine’s smug expression.

“What do you want me to say? It’s so good it’s worth risking death for?” he asked.

“Pretty much,” she said.

Caroline shook her head and smiled. She raised her glass to the middle of the group. She made her toast.

“They have literally chased us across an ocean and a continent, and we are here. To Elijah. I can’t decide which was a greater blessing to come out of this weird situation: your friendship or your cooking.” Elijah smiled at her and raised his glass.

“To Katherine. The queen of making running fashionable. I owe you my life and then some.” Katherine raised her glass, her eyes flashing brightly. Caroline turned to look in Klaus’s eyes.

“To Klaus. If I could do it all over again, I would sprint into that barrier,” she said. He put his hand on her knee and raised his glass.

“Finally, to Kol. Thank you for the meal. Wherever you are, you are missed,” she said. They clinked their glasses together and drank.

“So what are we watching?” Elijah asked, turning to face the TV.

Klaus laid down on the blanket, placing his head in Caroline’s lap. She took a throw blanket and unfolded it over him. She ran her fingers through his hair and scratched his head lightly. He closed his eyes and drifted into a half-sleep. He felt Caroline shake with laughter at some joke Elijah made about Katherine’s awful taste in 90s teen dramas. Klaus felt oddly peaceful despite the events of complicated, exhausting morning. Rather than mulling over all the things he wished he did differently, he felt a warm hum of gratitude for exactly where he was.

For the rest of the day, they drank, watched reruns, and told each other stories, dozing in and out of earned sleep individually. Tomorrow, they would make the long trek to Nevada.


	7. Las Vegas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay. It just kept feeling not right. I expect there will be two chapters left of this story. Thank you so much for all of the feedback; it means a lot to me.

“We couldn’t delay our great mission to nap, but we can for this?” Caroline asked, tapping her foot. She stood next to a large screen taller than her and the men in front of her. At the top it said _World’s Largest Pac-Man_. She watched as her… well, she wasn’t sure what to call him at the moment. She watched as _Klaus_ and his brother stood in front of the 9-foot screen, aggressively moving their joysticks as their characters evaded ghosts and ate dots and fruit.

“Few things trump a thirty-year feud, love. Besides, we’re in wolf territory. There are no vampires for miles. Surely you can take on a wolf,” Klaus teased, not prying his eyes from the screen.

“You fool,” Elijah smirked when Klaus took a bold turn.

“Klaus! I’m starving,” Caroline snapped, impatient after a full day of travel and the minimal sleep she got on their multiple flights.

“There’s a diner over there. Just stay in sight and take Katerina. I have money in my wallet if you insist on paying for it,” he said, maneuvering his way out of a corner on the screen. Caroline wasn’t a big proponent of the “compulsion as currency” system her new friends had adopted.

“Like you’d notice if I left your sight,” she grumbled, approaching him. She realized his wallet was in his front pocket. She hid her nerves as she slowly reached her hand in the front of his jeans to grab his wallet. Why did men’s pants have such deep pockets?

“I thought the time for embarrassment was over, love,” he whispered. She rolled her eyes.

“Gross. I’m about to eat,” Katherine said. Caroline pulled the wallet out and looked at the diner down the hallway of the basement of the casino, assessing the distance between Klaus and the restaurant.

“Too far?” Katherine asked.

“Oh, go, Caroline. If Niklaus starts coughing up blood, I can get an edge,” Elijah said with his eyes narrowed at the game.

“You need every advantage, brother,” Klaus retorted. Caroline rolled her eyes and pulled cash from the wallet and handed it to Katherine.

“Be right back,” Katherine said, heading over to the restaurant. Caroline leaned against the token machine and took in the sight around her. They were in the basement of the Bally’s casino in some kid-friendly arcade area between a candy store and glow-in-the-dark Twilight Zone mini golf. She’d barely had time for a fast shower before they left to find Ben. The last time Elijah checked a couple of years ago, their nephew was a blackjack dealer at the Paris casino, the attached building next door.

When they had landed, the Las Vegas strip glowed in the sunset. Even the airport was filled with slot machines and giant glittering advertisements for casinos, shows, and liquors. Klaus had taken her hand in his when they walked through the casino floor of their hotel. The loud ringing of the slot machines and shouting of their players filled her ears and the bright lights and gorgeous neon colors surrounded her. It was sensory overload (why was there a life-sized purple Zebra statue? Was thundering music necessary in every bar they walked past?), having experienced little louder than a few live bands at the Mystic Grill. Klaus, however, seemed somehow more at peace amidst the chaotic sounds and images. She wondered how long you would have to be alive before your attention could only be captured by a hodgepodge of stimulation. It sparked her to wonder why, after 150 years, Stefan and Damon wanted to call Mystic Falls their home when they knew placed like the ones which she’d seen in the past month existed.

Elijah shouted loudly, bringing her thoughts back to the present. He reigned victorious over Klaus in the giant arcade game.

“Cheater,” Klaus said bitterly.

“Oh, I cheated? What did I do? Compel the machine?” Elijah asked. Katherine walked back holding curly fries and two cups. She handed one to Caroline, who took a fry from the top of the pile. She sipped from the cup.

“Oh my God,” she exclaimed as warm blood coated her tongue. She looked at Katherine suspiciously. “What did you do?”

“I just told them to fill a cup each,” Katherine said.

“Fill a cup!?”

“What? I got kid sizes,” she said, shrugging. Caroline looked back to see the employees seated weakly at one of the tables, Klaus’s cash set between them. Well, at least they were conscious. She turned to find Klaus eyeing the machine, itching for a rematch. She stepped between him and the game.

“Can I tempt you back on task with some blood?” she asked, offering him the cup. Klaus shook his head and pulled Caroline closer to him by the belt loops of her jeans.

“You can tempt me in other ways,” he said. Caroline tried to keep her expression coy, but the link gave her away. Klaus could feel the butterflies in her stomach. He brushed his lips across her jawline, and she smiled, gently placing her hands on his chest.

“Come on, lovebirds,” Katherine called behind her as stepped onto the escalator going up to the casino floor.

Caroline downed the blood and ran over to her friend, giddy with excitement as the current of the city around her flowed through her. She threw her arm around Katherine’s shoulder while the brothers trailed behind them. Katherine returned the gesture, and they walked through the casino toward Paris.

Elijah and Klaus talked about old times in the city and how they planned to approach their nephew. They didn’t want to drag him to Mystic Falls. Klaus spoke about it under the guise of convenience, but the truth was- he wanted to _know_ Ben, his first blood relative he’d met in over a thousand years.

As they crossed the threshold into the Paris side of the building, they passed a frozen Margarita stand. Caroline froze suddenly, holding Katherine in place. They walked backwards in sync as they eyed the drinks. They quickly approached the counter.

“What do you recommend?” Caroline asked the bartender.

“Well, the blueberry--,”

“What are you doing?” Klaus cut him off suddenly, grabbing Caroline’s arm. Katherine ordered a drink, compelling the bartender to waive the ID requirement.

“You said it yourself, Klaus, we’re in…” she remembered the bartender watching, “… _dog_ territory. There are no… _snakes_ around for miles! Nobody knows about your nephew but us, hence, likely no… dogsnake hybrids, AND you said it yourself!” She put on a British accent to mimic him, “Surely you can take on a dog!” Klaus raised his eyebrows, trying not to smile.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Your accent,” she replied.

“Ouch. You also know that wolves are an actual animal?”

“Yes,” she snapped.

“I’m just checking.”

“ _Besides **,**_ you’re the big bad wolf. You could take on a whole pack of dogs with one arm tied behind your back,” she said, batting her eyelashes.

“Typically, flattery would get you everywhere, but--,” he began.

“How about we split it?” she pleaded. Katherine laughed out loud.

“How does that even work? Isn’t it like you both drank the whole thing?” she asked. Caroline turned to her and glared.

“Not helping!” she hissed.

 _“One_ ,” Klaus said, caving. Caroline grinned. She turned to the bartender and ordered. The bartender had been watching the conversation, moving his eyes between the two like a tennis match.

“Look, we have a strict policy not to overserve…” he said, convinced she was plastered. Elijah let out an involuntary howling laugh.

“Just give me the damn drink,” Caroline compelled him.

The four walked through the faux cobblestone pathways throughout the casino. Elijah and Katherine walked several feet in front, chatting about all of the places they would spend Katherine’s soon to be freedom. The ceiling was designed so it resembled a partly cloudy blue sky, and the smell of crepes and French food filled the air. Caroline held her drink in one hand and Klaus’s hand in the other. She craned her neck to take in the elaborate French decorations.

“Do you miss Europe already?” Klaus asked. He watched her as she gazed at their surroundings.

“Yes and no. There’s so much we talked about that we didn’t get to see, but I am excited to go home,” she said.

Klaus bowed his head, the crushing weight of reality overwhelming him. He didn’t fit into her life in Mystic Falls. Caroline was beloved there, but she didn’t call the shots for who was permitted forgiveness and who wasn’t: that was all Elena. Frankly, he didn’t particularly care about or want the forgiveness of the Salvatore brothers, the doppelganger, or the Bennet witch. Her life in her home, though, was grounded in drinks at the Mystic Grill and small-town events. He didn’t hate Mystic Falls, truth be told. He found something about the community’s firm commitment to preserving its history oddly charming. He even respected Caroline’s determination to care for it. He wanted to show her the world; he always had, albeit possibly because he knew he never had a chance with her where she was. Even if he did, more or less, have her affections now, they would never last. Not there, where everyone would turn their backs on her for it.

Hoping they would return to Budapest was a fantasy he felt stupid for indulging in. She probably meant it in the moment, but she did not know she would cease to mean it. She and Stefan were on a strange team of sorts: a team who defined morality in their little town. Since Stefan and the doppelganger broke up, the two of them had been a two-man operation, sitting in Caroline’s house determining which causes were more valuable: the cure or Tyler’s revolution against him; who was irredeemable and who wasn’t; and who was worth saving. Rebekah seemed to get a pass lately, but he was certain he made none of the lists. When Caroline returned home and looked in her friends’ eyes, she would lose her will to defend him. Saving one man from falling off a cliff and changing his feeding habits would not be enough.

Klaus glanced at her and watched the wonder in his eyes as she took in a city she’d only ever seen in movies. He decided that a smarter man than him would let her go now. He would back away and prepare for the fast torpedo of their connection the second they returned home and lost the link. As he felt her hand in his, though, he knew he was not smart enough for that course of action. He would, instead, hold on for dear life until the brutal moment it all came undone.

“You’re lucky you can’t get wrinkles from all that thinking,” Caroline said, gently touching the bridge of his nose. “I know you’re anxious about meeting Ben, but I’m sure he’ll come with us,” she misinterpreted his dread. Klaus caught her hand as she pulled it away from his face, brought it to his lips, and gently kissed her knuckles.

“You’re right,” he smiled. Elijah and Katherine stopped in front of them as Elijah scanned the casino floor. He looked at all of the dealers but didn’t find Ben.

“It’s been a few years…” Katherine said.

“I would recognize him. I’ll ask him,” he said, nodding to an official-looking manager standing in the middle of the tables.

“Be sure to compel him, Elijah, we don’t want the runaround,” Klaus said after him. Elijah nodded and walked up to him. The others listened into the conversation, trying to tune out the noise of the machines and the patrons.

“Hello, I’m looking for Benjamin Scott,” he said, holding eye contact with the manager.

“That fuck up? He was fired six months ago.”

“Do you have any idea where he might be?”

“I’ve seen him at the card tables in the Flamingo a few times. Don’t bother looking for him at any MGM properties; he’s banned from all of them.”

“For what?”

“Card counting? General drunken assholery? I didn’t exactly ask. Just heard about it from a friend of mine at New York New York.”

“Thank you,” Elijah said curtly and returned to the group.

“Well, that inspires confidence. An unemployed, drunk werewolf less than a year out of a horrible tragedy. He won’t be volatile at _all_ ,” Katherine said. The realization this could be more complicated than they realized settled on the group as they headed toward the Flamingo.

* * *

“Did you know studies show that the brain chemistry of gambling addicts is different from other people? That ‘rush’ your average person gets when they win a hand is a surge to the pleasure centers in your brain. The trick is, though, that those same rushes are triggered in gambling addicts _every time they play_. Win or lose- doesn’t matter. Being a werewolf is kinda like that. The moon, like, _calls_ to me, begging me to come outside. It’s weird because there’s this part of me, some freaky wolfy part, that can’t fucking wait. Every month I just… long for it. But the second it comes, _boom_. Agonizing pain for just hours. Like, what the fuck was I buzzing for?

“I mean, obviously the difference is that I literally can’t physically stop myself from turning. But, let’s be honest, coming back here is just as inevitable as my bones snaping in my skin every month. My dad used to say (like all the fucking time he was such a prick), ‘Ben, you have no idea how good you have it’,” Ben broke out into a wry smile.

“If only he could see me now, right? Like, dude, I have _no_ idea what good feels like,” he laughed. He took a sip of his drink: yet another abusive act toward his brain’s understanding of short-term pleasure and long-term misery.

“Anyway, what’d you say?” he asked the dealer in front of him. The dealer cleared his throat.

“Um, hit or stand?” he asked.

“Oh, right! Uh, I’ll stand; I’ll stand.” The dealer nodded and gave a near undetectable gesture toward another employee manning the floor. Suddenly, a manager walked up to him.

“Mr. Scott, we told you one more chance--,”

“God dammit. Really? Okay, okay, ix nay on the olf-way alk-tay; I get it, but--,”

“Mr. Scott.”

Suddenly, Ben felt pins and needles on the back of his neck. He shivered as it spread through his body. It felt like when you fall asleep on your arm, but everywhere. A handsome man in a suit walked up to them and put his hand on the manager’s shoulder.

“There is nothing to see here. Ben is just going to cash out now, thank you,” he said politely. The manager nodded and walked away as if that explanation alone was good enough for him. Ben glanced up into the man’s eyes with his own. They were serious, but warm. There was a hint of affection even.

“Do I know you?” Ben asked the stranger. He grabbed his far too small pile of chips from in front of him. Despite being grateful to the man for having spared him being booted from his favorite casino, every part of his body was screaming at him to run. The man began to walk from the table, out of the earshot of the curious players. He gestured for Ben to follow. _Curiosity killed the wolf_ , Ben thought, as he took a few tentative steps to follow him.

“My name is Elijah. Over there is my family,” the man said, gesturing to two women and a man who were all stupidly gorgeous. “We have no intention to harm you in any way. We were hoping you would accompany us to dinner to discuss a few things."

“Well, telling me you have ‘no intention to harm me’ really inspires confidence,” Ben replied. He looked over at the group again. They were watching him carefully. The blonde girl smiled and waved at him like they were friends who spotted each other at the grocery store. The tingling feeling intensified at the sight of the three of them. He remembered something his roommate told him. _You can sense them. It’s weird, but your body reacts in overdrive. If you meet any, get the hell away from them right away._

He froze in his tracks and looked up at Elijah.

“Are you vampires?” he asked. Elijah looked contemplative for only a moment.

“Yes,” he said.

“My roommate told me to stay away from you guys,” he said. Elijah held his gaze.

“He gave you good advice. I assure you, however, this is an exception.” Ben thought for a second.

“He’s a dick anyway,” he said, shrugging. Elijah raised his eyebrows in surprise but nodded. They walked toward the strange group.

* * *

Ben feasted on half of the Hell’s Kitchen menu after listening to Elijah explain his family history. He sat in silence, taking it all in. On one hand, it was pretty cool—original vampires and all. On the other hand, who cared? How many people in their early 20s are pining to know about their ancestors? He spotted Caroline looking longingly at his drink.

“Want to try it?” he asked. She shook her head.

“Gotta keep my wits about me. Wolf territory and all,” she said.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. My roommate has the whole pack meditate in the mountains every weekend. Campfire. Smores. All ‘getting in the peaceful headspace’. No booze just being, I dunno, one with the wolf or whatever. He’s controlling. You turn into a wolf, bro. It’s not that deep,” he grumbled. Caroline had an amused smirk on her face. Relief hit all of them that they could relax and enjoy themselves. She rose her hand to summon the waiter.

“Well, you’re a Mikaelson. You weren’t born to follow,” Klaus said somewhat proudly.

“Believe me, Scotts are born to follow. My dad was a miserable drunk with no backbone. Not till he got home from work anyway. Regardless, I’m not interested in the alpha crap. Or the pack at all, really. I just do my monthly visit to the mountains. Here, Utah, sometimes Colorado. Wait for it to happen and deal with it,” he said, shrugging.

“How has it been? I know the first few times are… rough,” Caroline said. Klaus tried not to think about her coaxing Tyler through his transitions. He caught her hand in his under the table.

“I mean, it’s not a walk in the park, but I’ve adjusted. Lots of weed, CBD. I did shrooms last time—waited till I was just on the cusp of full transition so that part wouldn’t be drawn out. You ever trip while turned? It’s sick,” he said, looking at Klaus. The hybrid raised both eyebrows at the question.

Katherine glanced at Elijah out of the corner of her eye. He caught her eye and returned her unspoken sentiment. _This guy is a mess._

“I can’t say I have,” Klaus replied. Ben shrugged and took another bite of his risotto.

“Your loss. Alright, tell me more about this deal. I go to Bumfuck, Virginia with you, give you a couple drops of my blood, Bailey does a little chant, we break the spell you won’t tell me about, and I get back on my merry way?” he asked.

“Well, that settles it. I’m only calling her Bailey from now on,” Katherine said, taking a sip from her drink.

“Yes. That’s what we’re asking,” Elijah said.

“What do I get out of it? The chance to get to know my new vamp family?” Ben asked.

“We have money,” Elijah replied. “We can set you up. A house, savings account, whatever you want.” Ben tried to keep his expression blank, but he screamed on the inside. He was swimming in debt and cards weren’t exactly in his favor lately.

“One more thing. You can do that thing, right? You know, that—” he squinted his eyes intensely.

“We don’t squint like that,” Katherine said.

“Well, I can’t make my pupils dilate on command.”

“So squinting was your alternative?”

“You knew what I meant, didn’t you?” he asked. Katherine thought for a moment, before shrugging slightly. Fair enough.

“And what do you want us to squint for you?” Klaus asked. Ben grinned.

* * *

The size of the club was great enough to swallow the one in Amsterdam five times over. Klaus kept a careful eye on Ben as he tried to elbow his way through the line for the bar.

“Remember, stay on him, don’t get too distracted. We’re just gaining his trust,” Klaus commanded.

“And here I thought we were bonding with your nephew,” Katherine rolled her eyes.

Caroline put her chin on Klaus’s shoulder and looked up at him with innocent eyes.

“Remember when this link was a happy excuse to go places just like this with me? Now, work work, work,” she said, blinking teasingly up at him.

“That was before I knew you might die if we don’t get this thing done soon,” he said coolly.

“He’ll stay, Niklaus. Relax,” Elijah said. Katherine left the group to head to the bar.

“Get me something!” Caroline called after her.

“Uh-huh,” Katherine yelled over the booming music. She wasn’t going for drinks. She saw Ben talking with the bartender, a desperate pleading look on his face. She walked close enough to listen in with her magnified hearing.

_“How did you even get in here?” the bartender asked._

_“It’s not important. Look, Noah, please--,” Ben said._

_“I’m working, Ben.”_

_“I just—I need you to give me another chance.”_

_“It’s been a year. You can’t just show up like this."_ _  
_

_“I thought it’d be romantic. You know, a couple drinks, we can talk about how much we’ve missed each other…”_

_“You were going to tell them that night,” Noah said firmly. Ben’s mouth closed and he stared in silence for a few seconds._

_“What difference does that make?”_

_“Don’t lie to me. Look, I liked you--,”_

_“More than liked.”_

_“More than liked. But you have some serious shit to work through. I’m sorry. Stay, enjoy the music… but don’t talk to me again, okay?”_

Katherine stopped eavesdropping and took in a long breath. She pushed strongly through the line, walking up next to Ben.

“Can I get a vodka cranberry and a screwdriver?” she asked Noah. He smiled and nodded, quickly bustling around the bar. He has a gorgeous, kind face. She could see why Ben wanted to come here.

“Refined palate,” Ben remarked.

“Caroline brings out the basic in me,” she smirked. The woman on Ben’s other side tapped his shoulder.

“Do either of you have a cigarette?” she asked. Katherine shook her head.

“You know those things will kill you,” Ben said before breaking out into a fit of giggles. The woman glared and walked away. Noah put her drinks in front of her and she gave him cash. He took it and quickly shuffled to the other side of the bar, far from Ben. She turned to face the wolf.

“You know, your packs are like families,” she remarked. “Live and die for each other thing. So primal, you wolves. Even if your alpha is controlling, I’d think you’d be with them right now. There has to be one decent person in it, right?” she asked.

“Maybe I don’t do the whole family thing,” he replied.

“Maybe you don’t think you deserve it,” she said.

“Excuse me?” he asked. Katherine brought her hand up and counted the points on her fingers.

“Crappy dad. Rolls over for his crappier boss then comes home and takes it out on you. Mom lets it happen. Aggressive wolf gene. Accidental house fire the day you tell them about your good pal, Noah. It doesn’t take a genius,” she said before taking a sip of her drink.

“Is that an accusation you want to be throwing at someone who is doing your friends a favor?” Ben asked coldly.

“I’m not trying to accuse you. I’m trying to talk to you. Your uncles and I have taken more lives than you can ever dream of. Even sweet Caroline has spilled some blood,” she said.

“Really inspiring confidence for my safety palling around with you guys,” he said dryly.

“You’re not getting it. Sort of accidentally-on-purpose killing your parents after they reject you? In the Mikaelson family that’s… Tuesday. You’ve stumbled into a family of people who fall down and get back up again more times than you can count over the centuries. But… they love each other. I know they want to love you,” she said.

“So, you’re saying I should request my specially braided vampire friendship bracelet?” he asked.

“I’m saying you should get out of here. You’re not human anymore. Get a fresh start away from the booze and the cards and the ghosts of your parents and your relationship and come dance the night away with people who get fucking up more than you know,” she said.

“Is ‘just get over it and drink with morally dubious vampires’ standard Katherine advice for everyone who killed their parents?” he asked, a small smile creeping up on his face.

“Well, I didn’t kill my parents, but… the plan is working for me,” she said, so quickly like maybe the embarrassment of saying it would die if she rushed out the sentence. He felt a rush of affection for the woman in front of him. He turned to the other bartender nearby.

“One vodka cranberry,” he ordered. Katherine smiled and looked back at Elijah. Klaus, Caroline, and he were walking upstairs. He gestured to her to follow and she nodded.

Ben and Katherine ascended the staircase, looking around for the others to no avail. Katherine scanned the large room and spotted a couple approach a tall bouncer in front of a black door.

“Are you Katherine and Ben?” the bouncer asked robotically.

“Uh, no, but we reserved--,”

“This area is only for Katherine and Ben, thank you,” he replied, dismissing them. They fumed and left. Katherine shook her head incredulously and grinned. She tapped Ben on the arm and walked over to the bouncer.

“Are you Katherine and Ben?” he asked.

“That’s us, big guy,” she replied. He let them through, and Katherine opened the surprisingly heavy door. They walked out to a gorgeous terrace with a color-changing rooftop pool and hot tub. A small fire pit sat in the middle of comfortable couches. They saw empty cups everywhere. It looked like a wave of one hundred people just suddenly left. In their wake were Elijah, Caroline, and Klaus, playing a loud game of volleyball in the water. Their shouts of victory and defeat mixed with the loud club music.

“This is so fucking cool,” Ben gaped at the empty terrace. He looked out over the city and the mountains coating the skyline behind it.

“They’re teaming up against me! Come help,” Elijah yelled over at them, bringing Ben back to the moment. He looked at his uncles beaming as they sipped scotch from the bottle. They all seemed so happy together.

“I just bought this bra in Paris!” Katherine complained next to him as they walked over to the pool.

“Well, you don’t have to wear--,” Elijah began.

“Please don’t,” Klaus interrupted, grimacing. Caroline grinned. She couldn’t help the jealous side of her that felt proud whenever he showed his eyes were for her and her only. Klaus returned her soft smile and put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her into him.

“You better not get my hair wet,” she warned, leaning her cheek on his shoulder.

“What was that?” he asked, pretending not have heard her. She looked up at him suspiciously.

“I _said_ you better not get my hair wet,” she threatened.

“Right, okay,” he said, nodding dramatically. She glared at him, wary of his innocent eyes.

An hour later, Caroline’s suspicions came to fruition when she and Klaus lost miserably to Katherine and Elijah in a chicken fight. It took twenty minutes to calm her down and remind her how much stronger Katherine was than her. Only then did she let go of her conspiracy theory that the brothers were in on a scheme the whole time.

Klaus took her over to the couches around a modern firepit under the guise of calming her down her omnipresent sore loser side. Truthfully, Caroline wanted some alone time with him. It was funny. Time together was all they had for a while now, but she wanted more.

Caroline lazily leaned back into his chest when she felt a lump in his jacket.

“Sorry, love,” he said, feeling the discomfort in her back. He gently leaned her forward and pulled a small sketchbook and pen from his pocket and placed them next to him. Caroline leaned back again, and Klaus wrapped his arms around her waist. She placed her hand on the small book.

“Can I look?” she asked. A flicker of nerves crossed his face, but he nodded. Caroline opened the book and was taken through a series of memories. On the first few pages were drawings of Caroline in Elena’s living room that first night they were linked. On the first couple of pages, she was eating popcorn, trying not to smile. Then, she was asleep on Elena’s couch. She smiled thinking about that first night. Why had she let herself fall asleep there again? She tried to recall whatever excuse she made. As she flipped through the book, she saw sketches from their travels. Some included her and some didn’t. She saw drawings of herself across a table in the Irish pub they drank in and sketches of the Cliffs of Moher when they sat on the edge together. She saw drawings all over Paris: Caroline wearing his jacket in the Catacombs (she smiled recalling they were in a fight that night, but he drew it anyway) and her with her eyes covered, anticipating the first bite of escargot.

“You just draw these from memory? How do you remember so many details?” she asked, gently touching the page where her nose scrunched up in a nervous grin.

“Practice,” he whispered, brushing his thumb over her stomach.

Caroline smiled when she saw Katherine and Elijah make an appearance in the drawings suddenly. Their friends graced nearly every page: Elijah and Klaus giving Katherine and her piggyback rides home from the club in Amsterdam, the four walking along the river in Budapest. They were the only drawings Klaus had included himself in.

“This is what you wanted when you made the hybrids, isn’t it? You didn’t know they’d be sired to you,” she said.

“I wanted an army,” Klaus said dismissively.

“You wanted a family,” she whispered. She flipped the page to the next sketch: Katherine, Elijah, and the two of them, drinking in their living room in Prague. The next was a photo of her, sleeping peacefully in their bed, wrapped in only a sheet, her wet hair framing her face. He must have drawn them on the plane while she slept in his lap.

Caroline grabbed the pen and his hand.

“What are you doing, sweetheart?” he asked, leaning his face into her blonde curls.

“I don’t want to fuck up your sketch book with my complete lack of drawing skills,” she said. She brought the tip of the pen to his palm and drew two stick figures, one slightly taller than the other, and a shotty sketch of the Eiffel Tower behind them. She filled out her curls around the figure’s face and gave them both pointy vampire teeth in their smiles. She drew their arms such that they held hands. Klaus grinned.

“ _Please_ mar my sketchbook with that,” he said. Caroline laughed lightly and replicated the drawing in the book. In the bottom right corner, she signed, “Love, Caroline. 2013.”

“What’s that one fancy museum one of your paintings is in? Tell them to make room,” she smiled. Klaus felt his heart twist with affection and anxiety. If she kept this up, it’d be impossible to prepare himself for the inevitable: for her to leave him when they got home. He lifted her gently, so she sat next to him and he looked in her eyes. He put his hand on her cheek and spoke intensely.

“I hope you know that when we get back to Mystic Falls, no matter what happens-” he began.

“Caroline Forbes, if I have to drag you back out on the dance floor by your hair, I will,” Katherine said. Klaus and Caroline tore their eyes from each other to find Katherine, Ben, and Elijah standing in their little seating area.

“Yeah, come on, _Uncle_ Klaus, I gotta see if my sick dance moves are genetic because, between you and me,” Ben continued in a stage whisper, “I didn’t get them from Elijah!” Katherine laughed out loud. The young wolf was growing on her. Elijah rolled his eyes, a small, amused smile planted on his face.

“Later?” Caroline asked Klaus. He gave a tight smile and nodded, though she could feel his tight knot of fear. They stood up to walk toward the dance floor when she grabbed his arm and pulled him to face her. She wanted to reassure him but didn’t know how or for what.

“Later, love, it’s okay,” he said. He took her hand and lifted it above her head, spinning her around. She smiled as he pulled her back in.

“So romantic,” she remarked, wrapping her arm around his waist. He put his arm around her shoulders, and they walked to follow the others.

“Just for you,” he whispered.

“Just for me,” she smiled, gazing up into his eyes. Katherine made a faux gagging gesture to Elijah, who stifled a laugh.

“Caroline?” they heard a voice say. Caroline looked up, following the voice to its source. Just a few feet from them stood Tyler Lockwood.

“Oh, you know my roommate?” Ben asked casually, unaware of the sudden tension.

Caroline dropped her arm from Klaus’s waist, flushed with embarrassment and a wave of shame. Hurt flickered in Klaus’s eyes, but he kept his arm firmly around her shoulders.

“Tyler, mate, nice of you to join us,” he said, his voice thick with victory.

“What are you doing here, bro?” Ben asked.

“I came to drag you to the campsite with the rest of the pack. What are you doing here with them?” he asked, his eyes lingering on where Klaus’s arm touched Caroline’s shoulder. Katherine cut Ben off before he could reveal too much to Tyler.

“Long story; we won’t bore you with the details,” she said quickly, flashing a warning look to Ben.

Tyler looked at the group, assessing what he was seeing. He realized, given his heart was still in his chest, Klaus seemed to not be killing him right this second. He swallowed back rage seeing Caroline with them. Matt left him voicemails telling him that Katherine had killed Jeremy. Now, Caroline was here with her, palling around Las Vegas nightclubs, canoodling with the man who killed his mom.

“Can I talk to you alone?” he asked her stiffly. Caroline swallowed back her guilt and nodded.

“No,” Klaus growled. He wasn’t letting the man who had more interest in his death than anyone in the world in a room alone with Caroline.

“Klaus, he won’t—” Caroline whispered.

“I’ll go with them,” Katherine interrupted. It was too risky to leave her alone with the wolf, but she took pity on her friend. This would be awkward enough without Klaus nosing his way into their conversation. Klaus looked at Katherine for a couple of seconds. The possibility of her ripping Caroline’s heart out of her chest and putting an end to her 500 years on the run in one swoop flashed across his mind. Then again, she had every opportunity to do exactly that since she joined them. Besides, he felt certain that Katherine Pierce loved Caroline almost as much as he did, in a different way, but just as truly.

“I’m trusting you, Katerina,” he said. _With my life_ didn’t need to be said. She nodded at him with hard resolve on her face. Klaus dropped his arm from Caroline’s shoulder and let her go.

“I’ll be back,” she promised. She gestured for Tyler to follow her into the quiet bathroom nearby. Katherine followed closely on their heels.

Klaus, Elijah, and Ben sat slowly on the couches, a serious quiet falling over them. Suddenly, Ben let out a long, “Oooooooh! Dude, you’re _that_ Klaus? You know, Tyler told me some guy killed his mom, but I thought it might be like Ken or Kyle or something.”

The hybrid flashed a warning glare up at him, silencing him.

Klaus stared down at his feet. The club was too loud to hear their conversation, but he felt the flurry of emotions in Caroline. She was anxious, ashamed, nervous, and guilty. He felt sick.

* * *

Katherine crossed her arms and leaned against the bathroom door, keeping a careful and curious eye on Tyler. He paced through the bathroom while Caroline stood in place bowing her head in shame. He suddenly came to a stop, glowering at her.

“Are you fucking?” he asked. Caroline’s breath hitched.

“Yes,” she whispered. Tyler stood still for a moment before letting out a terrifying low chuckle. He laughed harder and harder until he was in hysterics. Caroline watched, deeply unsettled.

“I’m so stupid! Oh, my _God_! You kept that drawing! You agreed to go on a _date_ with him while we were together! You know, when you told Stefan about my plan to take out Klaus, I thought, ‘Wow. I can’t believe Caroline cares about Elena getting the cure so much that she would be willing to sacrifice my revolution.’ I couldn’t _believe_ you’d compromise us taking him out: the guy who killed thousands of people and enslaved me and my friends, all for Elena! You know, I was stupid enough to think maybe you were feeling Stefan! Maybe what he wanted trumped what I wanted. But you know what? It wasn’t for Elena or Stefan. You said fuck my plan to save him, didn’t you?”

“No, Tyler, it was… complicated,” she replied.

“Then tell me, what was complicated about him killing my mom, Caroline?” he asked, tears in his eyes. Caroline opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She knew all of the things she’d thought over their travels as she warmed to Klaus. He was raised by an abusive psycho who made him feel so broken and unworthy of love that he was terrified to lean on his real family. The second he made a new one, they broke their bones hundreds of times just to get away from him. She knew Klaus and the good things he was capable of. As she ran through excuses, she found that none of them came close to sounding good enough to say: not to the man whose mother he killed.

“I don’t know what to say to you,” she admitted.

“He has killed _thousands_ of people, Caroline! Thousands of other mothers! What were you thinking?” he asked.

“Things… changed between us,” she said. Caroline thought about every tender moment she’d experienced with Klaus since they were linked. She thought of every good thing he’d done, every small gesture, and every time he was protective of her and their little family. In a sea of anxiety and shame, a pocket of warmth flooded her chest. She stood in front of the person Klaus hurt most in the world, a living embodiment of the worst things he was capable of, and yet, she knew who he really was. She thought of his smile, when he thanked Katherine, and when he spared Eva. He wasn’t a hero or a redeemed man, but he was different.

Tyler’s words stung because they were true. Klaus was _just different_ enough for her to love. But damn, did she love him. The rest of Tyler’s words were dull in her ears. She was sorry for him. She always would be. She would even try to convince Klaus to let him go and get to visit home and Matt. It would be a well-deserved kindness.

“Oh, don’t give me the ‘things changed’ bullshit, Caroline. You never bought that for Damon! And Klaus is way worse! Did he change or did you change? The Caroline I knew would never be able to ignore what he’s done,” he glared.

“Nothing I say is going to satisfy you, Tyler,” Caroline said.

“Oh, but he satisfied you, didn’t he? Did the fact that his hands have been around so many throats make it better somehow?” Tyler asked, stepping closer to her. Caroline took an involuntary step backward.

“Do you know the rumors circulating about him right now? They’re saying he’s linked to a vampire, Caroline. It took everything in me not to hunt _his_ ass down,” he said, taking another step. Katherine sprinted between them and pushed him backwards.

“That’s close enough, Wolf Boy,” she said.

“I wonder which one of you it is. I mean, I didn’t think I’d see the day Katherine Pierce would be hanging out with him. But maybe it’s you, Caroline. It looks like you’ve got vampire protection,” he commented. Katherine held firm in front of Caroline, balling her hands into fists at her sides.

“I’ll kill you where you stand,” Katherine whispered.

“A hybrid? For Jeremy, I’d like to see you try,” he retorted before lunging at her. Katherine caught his arms.

“Stay back, Care,” she said before the two of them fell to the ground. Caroline ran to the door and screamed Elijah’s name. When she turned back, Tyler had Katherine pinned on the ground. He took a bite out of her neck. Without thinking, Caroline ran at them before she collided with something hard. Klaus was in the room suddenly, holding her back from the fight. Katherine managed to get out from beneath Tyler only for Elijah to snap his neck in a flash. Elijah raised his hand to dig it into Tyler’s chest.

“Don’t kill him!” Caroline shouted. Klaus let go of her suddenly and the four stood quietly in the bathroom.

“Is life always so hectic with you guys?” Ben asked from the doorway. He looked shaken by the sight of his roommate on the ground, but he swallowed it back behind his mask of jokes.

“Just lately,” Katherine grunted from the floor. She tried to remain calm, but her neck bled profusely. Elijah helped her to her feet, and she swayed where she stood. He held her steady and looked desperately to his brother. The eerie silence of the empty bathroom crept on the group as Klaus’s steps echoed. He walked slowly up to Katherine, who held his gaze.

“This is your chance,” she whispered. Klaus looked down at her. For 500 years, he waited for exactly this moment: a dying Katerina Petrova on a silver platter for him to gloat over. He had longed for this moment; to watch her die slowly in front of him after she spent centuries evading him since ruining his chance at siring a family. Now, he looked at her and saw the woman he’d made an orphan because she refused to die on his command. More than that, he saw somebody who had, at every turn, risked her life for his. He could never know if she had done everything until now solely to obtain her freedom. He could never be sure that, the second she had it, she wouldn’t run with Elijah and never think of or do anything for him or Caroline ever again.

All Klaus could do was offer to love her as his own family and hope she returned it. He blinked back watery eyes as he considered how different his life might be right now if he’d done that with his hybrids. he suddenly walked over to Ben, took a cup from his hand, empty but the ice at the bottom, and bit into his own wrist. He filled the cup with the blood from his wrist as he walked back over to Katherine. He handed her the cup silently and she took a long drink from it. The wound on her neck healed before their eyes. Klaus opened his mouth to speak words he never anticipated speaking in five centuries.

“You are free, Katerina. You have more than earned it,” he said. Katherine’s mouth dropped open as her eyes moved between Klaus and Caroline. The blonde looked as surprised as she felt.

“What about the link—” she began.

“We can bring young Ben to Mystic Falls and break the link ourselves,” he said.

“What if the hybrids—” she started again.

“We’ll handle it. We’ll have the Salvatores,” he said, not entirely sure they would actually have their allegiance. Katherine took a long breath as she considered running out of this bathroom and never looking back. She looked at the two of them for a long beat before she crossed her arms and shook her head.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“What?” Klaus asked, blinking back his surprise.

“I’m not leaving you and Caroline. You would be lost without me,” she added, trying to make light of the decision. Klaus felt a tear fall down his cheek. She wasn’t leaving. How weighted a single gesture could feel. He drew in a shaky breath.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Katherine cleared her throat and dropped her arms to her sides.

“For what?” she asked. Klaus felt his eyes flicker anywhere but at her. He forced himself to look in her eyes.

“For five centuries,” he said. He didn’t need to elaborate. He was sorry for making her an orphan, for forcing her to run, for pushing her into a place where she had two options: turn or die, for kidnapping her, and for making her drive a knife into her legs.

Katherine blinked back the tears rising in her eyes as she felt processed an apology by the man who ruined her long, long life. She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, patting his back gently. He returned the hug, carefully draping his arms over her shoulders. They stood that way for a moment, feeling a weight of resentment leave their shoulders: a weight which had calcified over five hundred years. They let each other go and hastily wiped their eyes, stepping apart.

“We need to go. He’ll tell his pack we’re here,” Katherine said. They all nodded in agreement and walked out of the bathroom in the nightclub, leaving Tyler’s unconscious body on the tile floor.

* * *

It would take Tyler at least a couple of hours to wake up and retrieve his pack from the mountains, so they didn’t rush to their hotel to gather their things. As they walked through the casino, a sadness fell over the group. They’d hope to have at least one proper night in the city.

Caroline could tell Klaus was upset with her because he opted to walk with Ben and listen to his nonstop chatter instead of with her. She felt how rejected and heartbroken he was since she’d talked to Tyler. She resented it. If he couldn’t handle the fact she didn’t want him _dead_ at least, then that was his problem. She fell into step on the other side of Elijah, who held Katherine close at his side since she was bitten. Elijah whispered under his breath so Caroline could hear, but Ben could not.

“Does he ever stop talking?” he asked. Caroline smiled.

“One of us will have to stay with him. We can’t leave him down here alone,” she replied under her breath. She held her fist out in front of her. Elijah raised his eyebrows with amusement then mirrored the action. _Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot_. Caroline prevailed with scissors. She elbowed him lightly, victorious.

When they approached the elevators up to the rooms, Elijah distracted Ben from his flickering eyes to the card tables ( _maybe I can just play one while they get their stuff_ ) under the guise of needing his help with the bags. It was transparent, but Ben went anyway. He couldn’t remember the last time somebody wanted his company.

Klaus was silent on the elevator ride up to their floor. As they entered their room, Caroline could barely breathe under Klaus’s sorrow. She tried to reach out to him, but he shrugged her off, crossing the room and gathering their belongings.

“Klaus—” she tried.

“Remember earlier in our trip, when we would at least _pretend_ we can’t feel each other to respect any semblance of privacy we still had? Would you go back to that right now?” he asked, looking anywhere but at her. She crossed her arms, stung by the words.

“I know you can’t be happy that I asked Elijah not to kill him, but I’ve known him my whole life and he was fairly upset—”

“Caroline, I don’t care that you didn’t want Elijah to kill Tyler. I know you; you would never let him kill Tyler. But I need to not hear you defending him right now,” he said, tossing her her phone charger and placing his sketchbook in his bag. Caroline let out an angry breath but stopped talking. She shivered from the cold hotel room and shrugged on his jacket he gave her in Ireland. She looked up to find Klaus staring at her.

“What are you doing?” he asked. His voice was pleading.

“Well, I know we’re vampires so I’m not exactly at frostbite risk, but when someone is a bit chilly, they—” she started, biting.

“Not that, Caroline! I felt—when you were in the room with… _him_. You’re in love with him. I didn’t expect this to be… just, stop acting like this if you’re just going to run back to him. Please,” he said. She watched him look away from her as he grabbed the last few items they’d laid out on the nightstands. Her confusion gave way to understanding. He felt the moment she realized she was in love with him.

“Wait, you—letting Katherine go. You thought I was in love with Tyler and I was going to leave you and you let Katherine go. That had nothing to do with our deal, nothing to do with white paint, you just let her go?” she asked. Klaus squinted in confusion.

“Caroline, Katerina has been a good friend and Elijah loves her, so yes, I let her go, and it had nothing to do with you. Not everything needs to be about you,” he snapped.

Caroline felt her heart pounding. Klaus wasn’t just changing for her only. He was simply changing. She thought about the first night they were linked: out on the porch of the Gilbert house before any of this began. _I’ve done more than enough. I’ve shown kindness, forgiveness, pity because of you Caroline. It was all for you._ That night, though, he looked to her to be rewarded. He gave Tyler a head start hoping she would fall into his arms and be grateful for it. Tonight, he showed kindness and mercy to someone who evaded him for five-hundred years and had been in multiple plots to kill him.

Klaus held her eyes with a bewildered expression, trying to rationalize the feelings in her chest: feelings he only ever got when he looked at her. She slowly walked up to him.

“What you felt—it wasn’t for Tyler. I love _you_ , Klaus. You. You have to know that. Please know that,” she said. Before she could plead for him to believe her any further, he sprinted toward her and crashed his warm lips on hers. He held her face in his hands as he processed the words he’d wanted to come from her mouth since the second he laid eyes on her. Caroline returned the kiss passionately, bringing her hands to his chest and knotting her fingers in his shirt.

Klaus broke the kiss and laid brought his lips softly to her forehead. Caroline’s eyes fluttered closed and he placed two gentle kisses to her eyelids.

“I loved you before I knew you, Caroline,” he said. She smiled softly at the words. Klaus let out a deep breath.

“We’ll be back in Mystic Falls soon,” he said.

“I know,” she replied.

“It won’t be easy."

“I know. I don’t want to look back and think about the time we could have had if I didn’t care. We may be immortal, but… well, people have a tendency to die anyway,” she whispered. She opened her eyes and met his gaze beneath thick eyelashes.

“I would rip apart anybody who tried to hurt you,” he assured her. Caroline nuzzled his neck and kissed his jawline in response.

“They can wait a little longer, don’t you think?” he whispered in her ear. Caroline smiled and moved her lips down his neck.

“Well, we have a lot to pack…” she said between kisses.

“So much,” he replied, unbuttoning her blouse.

“Tons.”


	8. Mystic Falls, Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter. I can’t articulate how amazing it’s been to write this story. I’ve never written a multi-chapter before, and I had a great time. Thank you to everyone who’s read and especially reviewed.

“Can’t you two kiss and make up already?” Katherine complained as the plane taxied. She unbuckled her seat belt and cracked her back, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. The five of them took up a row in first class with Klaus and Caroline on one side and Ben, Elijah, and Katherine on the other. Ben was fast asleep and drooling a bit on Elijah’s shoulder.

“You could _pretend_ to not be eavesdropping,” Caroline snapped, crossing her arms. Klaus glared out the window, looking anywhere but at the blonde next to him.

“You know, somehow your whispering didn’t evade my super hearing from _two feet away_ ,” Katherine said. “Besides, you two aren’t being nauseating for once. It’s the only evidence I need to know you’re fighting,” Elijah put his hand on her knee, shooting her a slightly disapproving look. _Leave them alone_.

“So, you don’t your buds to know you’re shacking up with Klaus. Big deal,” Katherine said.

“Katerina,” Klaus warned. She ignored five-hundred years of instincts telling her not to push his buttons. Caroline glared at her.

“I’m already showing up with you, Katherine. Huh, I wonder why that’d be a problem. Oh wait, you _just_ killed Jeremy. Unless you’re suddenly capable of saying you’re _sorry_ for that--,” she began.

“I’m not,” Katherine interrupted.

“See!? So, I’m supposed to come in and drop _two_ bombs on them? At least they know we’re linked. You’re going to be impossible to explain. And why can’t you just apologize!?” Caroline snapped.

“Why would I apologize when I’m not sorry? I’m not even sorry for killing you.”

“Of course, you’re not. What would there be to be sorry for? You only took my life!”

“You’re more fun now. I did you a favor,” Katherine shrugged. Caroline made fists with her hands and tried to calm herself down.

“Perhaps a united front now that we’re back in Mystic Falls, given it’s the first place anybody would think to look for us?” Elijah suggested, containing his irritation with the three’s bickering. He glanced down at Ben’s small puddle of drool and cursed himself for not changing out of his Armani suit. The sleep deprivation wasn’t serving any of them well.

“Fine. So Stefan is picking us up at Concourse B--,” Caroline began.

“Stefan is picking us up?” Elijah asked sharply. She looked a little taken back by his tone. The seatbelt sign turned off as the plane came to a stop.

“Yes?” she said, confused.

“United front, huh?” Katherine whispered to Elijah as he glowered. He waved her off.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“Don’t be jealous,” she teased as she handed him his bag. Elijah took it from her and rolled his shoulders to loosen up. Ben jolted awake. He blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes.

“What’d I miss?” he asked, noting the dark clouds over the group. They ignored his question and walked off the plane.

Klaus avoided Caroline’s hand reaching for his. She didn’t really blame him. Klaus was the poster child of abandonment issues. Still, she stayed resolved in her decision. Klaus had hurt or tried to kill nearly every one of her loved ones they were about to see. They needed to be eased in.

As they walked down the terminal, Klaus stopped them for a moment and headed to the men’s bathroom. He subtly caught Ben’s eye and gestured for him to follow. Ben followed, confused. When he walked inside, Klaus ran the water tap and whispered under his breath.

“I don’t need to remind you that now that we’re in Virginia, you need to stay vigilant, right?” he asked.

“I heard you all the first fifty times, yeah. No taking candy from strangers,” Ben replied, leaning against the sink.

“Good, then I will just say this. You are about to meet people that Caroline has known a long time. She is going to trust them. Don’t let your guard down around them. Not with Stefan, Damon, not Elena, any of them. I want you to stay with me or Elijah every second,” Klaus warned.

“Does that mean you’re gonna stay when I pee? Cause now I kinda have to.”

“Ben.”

“I hear you. You’ve public enemy with everyone but Elijah and my aunts, so stay close. I get it,” the young man said. He walked over to a urinal and didn’t see Klaus’s puzzled face. Did he mean Caroline and Katherine? Klaus smiled softly at the comment. His nephew assumed Caroline was his wife. He certainly wasn’t going to correct him.

They left the bathroom and saw the other three waiting for them. Klaus met Caroline’s sad, hopeful eyes. He felt the knot in her stomach as she hoped he would understand her position. He let out a small breath and walked to her side. He took her hand and held it gently to his cheek for a fleeting moment. She smiled at the gesture: Klaus’s white flag. They walked on through the airport with the others.

Caroline could have spotted Stefan’s bright red car a mile away. Klaus felt joy spread through her body at the sight of her best friend in the driver’s seat. Caroline, in turn, felt Klaus’s sharp jealousy in a pit in his stomach. Stefan stepped out of the car at the sight of her and looked quizzically at her entourage. He walked over to Caroline and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Stunningly gorgeous brother?” Ben whispered to Klaus.

“If only,” he replied.

“Ah.”

“I missed you,” Stefan said, lifting Caroline gently off her feet. She grinned and hugged him back hard. He set her back down. “Though if I’d known you were bringing 66% of the living Mikaelsons, I would have brought Elena’s car.” Stefan stood stiffly at the sight of the group in front of him. Ben noticed the cold silence.

“Make that 75%. I’m Ben,” he said, extending his hand out. Stefan’s raised his eyebrows in surprise as he shook his hand.

“The lone descendant, huh? I thought you’d be… scarier. Well, there’s not a lot of room. I thought it’d be the four of us,” he said, shooting a glance at Katherine. Caroline had left out her and Elijah’s role in all of this over the phone.

“Katerina can sit on my lap,” Elijah said coolly. Stefan nodded and caught Caroline’s eye with a disapproving glance.

“Don’t look so sad to see us,” Katherine said as she took it upon herself to open Stefan’s trunk and put her bag away.

“It’s not me I’m worried about seeing you,” Stefan said, crossing his arms.

“Ah, yes. How is Elena? Fragility personified?” she asked, leaning against the car.

“You killed her brother. How do you think she is?” Stefan asked. He turned to Klaus. “A choice I see you decided to _reward_ , given Katherine’s head is still attached to her body.”

“Well, Katerina could teach you a thing or two about loyalty. Or Elena for that matter. I wonder whose bed she’s turned to for comfort in this trying time?” he asked. Caroline stood between the two of them with her back to Klaus.

“Awesome. Thirty seconds in and none of you can hold it together. Can we please go?” she asked. Klaus grabbed her bag and threw it in the trunk with his own. Elijah and Ben followed suit and the six crammed in the car: Stefan in the driver’s seat, Caroline next to him, and the other four stuffed in the back seat with Katherine on Elijah’s lap and Ben in the middle seat. Klaus stared out the window, keeping a watchful eye for anyone following them.

“We moved the fort to our place. We signed the deed over to Liz. It was getting a little crowded at yours,” Stefan said. The tension in his voice said “a little crowded” really meant “too much face time with Damon and Elena”.

“That’s good since it’s a full moon tonight. Do you have chains for Ben? The basement will work, right?” she asked.

“ _Chains_?” Ben whined. They ignored him.

“Yeah, we can handle it. I can’t say Damon will be delighted about you bringing a werewolf over…”

“Who’s at the house?” she asked, waving off any worries about Damon.

“Liz, Damon, Elena, and me. Bonnie’s there now, too, to unlink you guys. Matt and Rebekah come by sometimes, but she’s a little… frustrated Bonnie and I won’t tell her about what’s going on with you and Klaus,” he said.

“I take it they’re not assuming romantic backpacking trip anymore?” she asked. Klaus tried not to shift in his seat. It _was_ a romantic backpacking trip. It just had a bit of a twist.

“It was hard to sell in the first place. Now that we’re on Liz duty…” Stefan trailed off.

“Right. Where’s Jeremy? Alaric, Lexi?” she asked. Stefan glanced at her.

“Bonnie put the veil back up,” he said.

“What? When?” Klaus asked suddenly.

“A couple days ago. Don’t get too excited. Matt saw some of the hybrids at the grill last night with some witches. Bonnie thinks they’re using their combined power to give them a foothold here,” he said.

“So, they are in town,” Katherine said.

“Matt followed them. They went to your house, Caroline,” he said. A silence fell over the car. They knew how to break the link. They had to have.

“Do you think my mom--,” Caroline started, her voice shaking with worry.

“Damon wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” Stefan assured her.

“Not that I don’t trust your brother’s track record, but perhaps you could drive a little faster,” Klaus snapped. Stefan sped down the road toward Mystic Falls.

* * *

Caroline was surprised by how nostalgic she felt as they drove up the driveway at the Salvatore boarding house. She hadn’t left home for this long in her life and she nearly jumped out of her skin at the prospect of hugging her mom.

Klaus’s head was on a swivel as he assessed their surroundings and confirmed there weren’t any enemies around. He, Katherine, and Elijah stood in a protective semi-circle around Ben as he grabbed as many of their bags as he could carry.

Stefan and Caroline rushed toward the house. She looked up at the tall wooden door. It was the threshold between her old life and her new life: her old family and her new family. She looked back over her shoulder for one last small second and saw the back of Klaus’s head as he looked out. Nerves filled her stomach as Stefan opened the front door. She turned back toward the door and saw Stefan run inside, yelling Damon’s name. She heard the beginning of his warning.

“I need you to stay calm…” he began. She tuned him out, and peered through the threshold, waiting for somebody to appear.

Suddenly, a bob of blonde hair appeared. Her mom’s bright, dazzling smile spread across her face. Caroline immediately started crying. She brought her hands up to her face in overwhelmed delight.

“Come inside, sweetie,” Liz said, holding her arms out for her daughter. Caroline ran toward her mom and threw her arms around her. Liz held her daughter tight and pet her hair soothingly as Caroline cried into her shoulder. They stood there a moment when Caroline pulled away.

“Will you let them in?” she asked, nodding toward the doorway. She saw surprise and alarm in Liz’s eyes as she saw the four in the doorway. She looked back at Caroline, who nodded to her.

“It’s okay,” Caroline promised.

“Uh, yes, I invite you in,” Liz said.

“You guys are a formal bunch, huh?” Ben asked as he walked through the door. He gawked at the house in front of him.

“NO!” they heard. Damon stood irate, glaring daggers at Katherine.

“If it’s not the lover I wish I could forget. Got any blood around here?” Katherine asked, twirling her hair around her index finger. She led Ben into the sitting room where they dumped everyone’s bags.

“Hey, man, I’m Ben,” Ben said, holding his hand out. Damon ignored it.

“I don’t care. Caroline, what were you thinking bringing her here? Elena is going to freak out!” he scolded.

“It’s complicated. I’ll just talk to her and explain. Where is she?” Caroline asked.

“She’s in the shower,” he sighed.

“Whose?” Katherine quipped.

“You’re one to talk, Slutty the Vampi--,” Damon started in on her.

“You might want to rethink that sentence if you wish to keep your tongue,” Klaus interrupted. Damon looked at him incredulously then glanced at Caroline.

“What Twilight Zone did you disappear into, Blondie?” he asked. Klaus walked over to Ben. He shrugged his jacket off, threw it in the luggage pile, and plopped down on the couch like he owned the place. Ben noticed Klaus’s sketch book peeking out of the jacket. He made eye contact with Klaus and pointed at it. _Can I look_? Klaus shrugged his approval. Ben took it and began flipping through the drawings as the drama among strangers unfolded around him.

Caroline groaned. This was a nightmare. She followed and sat on the arm of the couch. Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice come up the stairs.

Rebekah and Matt came up from the basement laughing about something none of them heard.

“I have no idea how you held it together. I would have thrown him out,” she said.

“That’s because you’ve only worked there three weeks _and_ you have an anger problem. You get used to it,” he said warmly. Rebekah sipped on a blood bag in her right hand. Matt grabbed her left with the new but deep affection only two people who’d fallen hard and fast had.

“This is a touching display,” Klaus said as they walked into the room. Rebekah’s eyes widened in surprise as she took in the new faces around her. She dropped the blood-bag on the ground.

“Oh, come on, not the hardwood,” Damon complained.

Her eyes narrowed at Klaus. She stormed over to him and shoved him backwards so hard he fell over the back of the couch. Caroline winced in pain as she felt him hit the ground. She walked around the couch and helped him to his feet. He didn’t need it of course, but he felt a twinge of affection at the gesture.

“You prick! Do you know how worried I was? Why didn’t you call!?” Rebekah yelled.

“Nice to see you, too, Bekah,” he said.

“ _You’re_ Rebekah?” Ben looked up from the drawings. She looked over at him, puzzled.

“Yes. Who are you?” she demanded. Ben glanced over at Elijah’s alarmed expression.

“I’m… Katherine’s grandson. I’m nobody really,” he lied quickly.

“Then how do you know I am?” she asked, annoyed that this boy was interrupting her pummeling of her brother.

“Klaus talks about you all the time. Nice stuff,” Ben improvised. Klaus rolled his eyes. Anything would have been more believable than that. Rebekah turned back to her brother. She crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow.

“Really?” she asked. He words dripped with disbelief.

“I know you’re angry with me, little sister, but you would have just slowed us down!” Klaus raised his hands in front of him.

“But you brought _Elijah_?” she demanded, pointing a finger at her other brother.

“Well, I _found_ him,” Elijah defended himself.

“Oh my God.” Elena walked into the room with Bonnie at her hip. Her eyes locked on Katherine.

“Hello, Elena,” Katherine taunted.

“Oh, shit, they’re sisters?” Ben asked.

“No,” he heard at least four voices reply. He shrugged and flipped through the book.

Elena sprinted toward Katherine in a blur, knocking her back hard into the wall behind her. Katherine laughed as she pushed off the broken wood behind her.

“I wasn’t expecting a welcome back party, but that’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” she asked. Elena ran at her again, but Elijah pushed her backward. He stood between the doppelgangers and raised his hands out to either of them.

“Enough,” he growled. Tears sprung to Elena’s eyes as she turned to Caroline. The blonde shuddered under her best friend’s look of betrayal.

“How could you bring her here? After what she did to Jeremy? How could you?” Elena cried. Caroline recoiled with guilt.

“Elena, it’s complicated…” she started.

“No, Caroline, it’s really not.”

“She’s saved my life, Elena, she’s been--,”

“She _killed my brother_!”

“And Damon killed Matt’s sister!” Caroline blurted out. Klaus raised his eyebrows. He was reminded of the night she handed his ego to him at the Mikaelson ball. She always demanded respect. She didn’t wait for people to decide to give it to her. He watched the exchange with admiration.

Elena crossed her arms. A flash of fury crossed her eyes at the comparison.

“So, this is all about Damon again, huh? Caroline, I’m happy--,” she began.

“No, Elena. This isn’t about Damon. It’s about _us_. You know what he did to me when we met. You were there. The bruises everywhere. The bite marks everywhere. You were the one who noticed! Damon killed Vicki, Elena. And, you know what? We have to see him all the time! We are civil because you love him. And I get that, okay? I’m happy to do that. I am just asking you to _please_ be civil with Katherine for one day. We need her here,” Caroline pleaded with her friend. The room went quiet at her outburst. She’d never really brought up how Damon treated her before. It was a reality they all kept quiet about for convenience. Maybe they even hoped she’d forgotten. They were wrong. She never would. Liz teared up at the pain her daughter had buried deep inside.

Damon shifted his weight uncomfortably. Elena crossed her arms and bowed her head. The air in the room thickened with tension from Caroline’s outburst. Klaus felt her mix of guilt and relief.

Ben cleared his throat awkwardly. “Hey, uh, maybe we should cool down,” he suggested. He held up Klaus’s sketchbook. “This is cute, Caroline. Couple goals; am I right?” he asked. He showed Caroline’s drawing of her and Klaus holding hands in front of the Eiffel Tower. _Love, Caroline_.

Katherine let out a barking laugh as Elijah dropped his head in his hand. One by one, everyone in the room’s expressions turned to horror. Caroline’s heart sunk as shame spread through her. Klaus threatened, hurt, and killed a loved one of everybody in the room. Her friends gaped at her with betrayal.

“Nice high ground, Care,” Elena spat. She spun on her heel and stormed out the front door. Matt shook his head and followed her.

“He killed Tyler’s _mom_ ,” he said as he walked out of the Salvatore house.

“I’ll deal with you two later,” Rebekah said to her brothers before she followed her boyfriend out.

Damon stormed over to Caroline, ready to pile onto her guilt. Klaus was in front of her in an instant. He stood with his back to her protectively.

“I will break every bone in your body,” he growled. Caroline put a gentle hand on his back. She knew he could feel her gratitude like it was his own. Damon shook his head and headed toward the door.

“I thought your taste in men bottomed out with Dog Boy, Barbie,” he yelled over his shoulder. In typical Damon fashion, he needed the last word. He slammed the door behind him as he went to find Elena. A hushed silence fell over the great room. Bonnie, Liz, and Stefan were the only people outside their circle remaining.

Caroline couldn’t hold the heart break off. She pressed her forehead into the back of Klaus’s neck and let the soft tears fall down her cheeks. She tried to hide behind his back and take a moment of catharsis before the day had to go on. She knotted her hands in the back of his shirt and tried to keep the sobs inside. Klaus brought a comforting hand behind him onto Caroline’s waist.

“Would anybody else like to leave?” Klaus asked quietly. Stefan’s eyes stayed glued to the floor, while Liz watched Klaus and her daughter carefully. Bonnie looked wary but stayed in place. None of them objected. Klaus felt Caroline steady her breathing behind him.

“Katerina, the spell,” he said. Katherine pulled her phone out of her pocket and found the photo she took in Prague. She tossed the phone to Bonnie, who caught it easily. Her green eyes skimmed over the screen.

“Looks like we’ll have to wait for the moon in a couple hours. Should be pretty easy, though. A bit of Liz’s blood and…?” she began questioningly, looking up at the new face in the mix.

“Ben,” he said.

“Ben’s. Then I’ll need you two, obviously,” she said, looking up at Klaus and Caroline. If she hated her friend now, she masked it well. “It’ll just take a few minutes.”

“We should reenforce the house. The hybrids can’t get in, but the witches will try. Maybe we can add some traps, too,” Elijah said, looking at all of the unlocked doors and exposed windows. Klaus nodded.

“I’ll start. Take Katerina down to the basement to set up for Ben’s transition. Reenforce it _well_ , Elijah. We can’t risk him breaking free during the spell,” he said. He felt Caroline pull away from him and wipe the tears from her face.

“Caroline and I can board up the kitchen,” Stefan said. He hadn’t spoken since the revelation about her and Klaus, but he glanced over at his best friend with an unreadable expression.

“Sure,” she said quietly.

“I can work on a barrier,” Bonnie said. Katherine rolled her eyes.

“Because that went so well last time. What if we need to run?” she asked.

“I’ll put one between this level and upstairs so they can’t attack from above. Any more questions?” Bonnie snapped.

“Better grab your hair gel then, Stefan,” Katherine said.

“I’ve never seen anyone do magic before. I’m in!” Ben said gleefully. He met his uncle’s disapproving eyes.

“I’ll be with Elijah,” he sighed. He, Katherine, and Elijah left down into the basement, carefully stepping around the blood Rebekah dropped.

Liz crossed her arms and walked up to Klaus.

“Then I guess we’re the dream team,” she said with challenging eyes. A chill went down Klaus’s spine. Caroline held back a laugh. She’d never felt Klaus so nervous before. It was almost enough to distract her for a moment about her friendships collapsing around her and their potential impending attack. Almost.

* * *

Stefan, Caroline, and Klaus brought some sheets of steel and wooden planks down from some of the empty bedrooms of the boarding house whose renovations had been abandoned. Bonnie got to work on the barrier as the others separated throughout the house to reenforce it in case of attack.

Caroline and Stefan covered the glass with the heavy construction materials in uncomfortable silence. She kneeled on the counter to cover the windows behind the sink.

“Do you think they know we’re here?” she asked to break the tension.

“Probably,” Stefan replied.

“Why haven’t they come? Why give us time to regroup?”

“Maybe they’re waiting to strike until Bonnie’s mid-spell.”

“That’s a pretty small window,” she said, drilling a screw into the wall. She looked over and found Stefan standing next to her with contemplative eyes. She sighed and sat the drill down on the counter. She hopped off the counter and looked up at him with eyes full of shame.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say,” he said.

“Yes, I do. You’re going to say, ‘Caroline, he leveraged my dying brother to get me to join him on a killing spree. He forced me to drink human blood. He forced me to turn my humanity off. What kind of a friend are you?’”

“Well, clearly you don’t need the rundown,” he said, quirking his head to the side.

“Why didn’t you leave?” she whispered, looking down at your shoes.

“Well, I live here,” he teased.

“Seriously,” she replied. She dared to look up at him.

“You seem to be beating yourself up enough for the both of us. Besides, you seem happy. Well, maybe not right this second, but… I don’t know. I don’t want to take that from you. I don’t know if it’ll ever be Fourth of July barbecues with us, but…” he trailed off, not finding any more words. It would never be perfectly okay, but it would be okay enough. He met Caroline’s grateful eyes.

“He’s pretty British for Fourth of July, anyway,” she smiled. Stefan put a supportive hand on her shoulder.

“I’m not going to walk away because of this, so quit worrying so you can get back to eavesdropping,” he said, going back to the window.

Caroline smiled. She’d been caught. She tucked her hair behind her ear and listened for her mom and Klaus. She could feel Klaus’s nerves compounding with her own.

* * *

“Oh, this is so pretty,” Liz said. She leaned against the wall next to a ladder. Klaus stood at the top, putting together a trap. If anybody opened the window and tripped the wire, stakes would automatically shoot in their direction. Liz scrolled through photos from Europe on Klaus’s phone. She absently put a screw in his outstretched hand. They’d maintained this polite small talk routine for the last hour. Klaus glanced over at the picture on the phone. Caroline grinned at the camera in the middle of Monet’s garden. She stood in front of rows and rows of beautiful purple flowers. Her blonde hair contrasted the backdrop stunningly.

“She’s beautiful,” he agreed. That was one of the first times she wanted to document their trip. He remembered her falling asleep on the way home with her head in his lap. She drooled a bit on his jeans. He smiled softly at the memory.

Liz raised her eyebrows. She meant the garden. She swiped the screen to the left. Caroline took a selfie of her and Klaus, who, in his attempt to be a good sport, managed a bit of a smile for the camera. They held up the _fritessaus_ she would later let him have almost none of.

“You two had fun,” Liz observed.

“I think so,” he said, stepping down off the ladder.

“It’s nice when it’s easy, isn’t it? I mean, sure, you’ve got hybrids on your tail, but stuff like that’s par for the course in your world,” she said. Klaus walked to the other side of the room.

“It’s been a bit more stressful than the usual,” he said.

“Well, maybe your usual. You’ve ensured Caroline’s friends lived in terror for the last year. I mean, wondering if today was her last, that was Elena’s every day, wasn’t it?” she asked. She opened her palm at his nonverbal request. He took a screw from her hand.

“Touché,” he said. He began to reenforce the window.

“My point, Klaus, is that love is easy when it’s macaroons on the roof. Everything she does makes you smile. Everything you do makes her smile. You can dodge your pasts and avoid the tough questions. I bet you’re not even killing people right now,” she said. Klaus looked at her surprised.

“I’m not,” he confirmed.

“Yet. I assure you, as much as I try to live in blissful ignorance, I’m all too aware of the humanity switch flipping around here.”

“That hasn’t been an option for me in a while,” he clarified.

“Even so. You drowned my friend. You killed Jenna Sommers. You had my daughter bitten,” she said. Klaus stared at her for a moment before nodding.

“What happens if you fight? Or break up? Think you’ll stay vegetarian out of the goodness of your heart? What about hurt her for hurting you?” she asked. She stepped closer to him. Klaus bravely met her eye.

“I wouldn’t,” he replied.

“Wouldn’t what? Stay murder free? Or hurt her?” she asked. Klaus wanted to say both, but he couldn’t. Not truthfully. He’d never hurt Caroline ever again. But, if she left him, these lifestyle changes wouldn’t stay. He stood in silence.

“I don’t want her to be your reason for holding it together, Klaus. I don’t want her to be your ‘why’. Maybe she hasn’t thought about that. Maybe she loves you too much to feel the weight of that responsibility. But what happens if she wants out? And every life you might take in response flashes before her eyes?” she asked. Klaus felt a lump grow in his throat. He knew Caroline could feel it too. He’d never thought of it that way. Forever felt so imaginable if she stayed with him. He hadn’t thought of it without her much.

“Do you love my daughter enough to let her live without that responsibility?” Liz asked. Klaus looked at her intently. She wanted him to swear not to kill another person. Truthfully, these changes never felt temporary. He didn’t miss killing or think about doing it again. Though, he knew it was partially because she’d be devastated if he did. When he spoke again, his words came out in a whisper.

“I don’t remember what I was doing before I loved Caroline. A thousand years of carnage, loneliness, and revenge. It was a blurry watercolor of a life. I’ve seen every inch of this planet. I’ve done everything. But I didn’t… she gave me a real life,” he averted his watery gaze from hers and took a deep breath. “I will never trap her,” he promised.

“Okay. I trust her. And she trusts you,” she said. It was about as much approval as he could hope to get given the circumstances. He nodded unspoken thanks and took the last screw from her hand.

“Hey,” they heard. Caroline and Stefan stood in the doorway. She gazed at Klaus.

“I’m gonna check on Bonnie. It’s almost nightfall, we should all be in the same place for the spell,” Stefan said.

“I’ll go with you,” Liz offered. The two excused themselves from the living room. Klaus drilled in the last screw. Suddenly, Caroline lifted his arm so she could stand in the small space between him and the window. Klaus smiled softly.

“You want attention,” he said.

“Just yours,” she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck. Klaus set the drill on the chair next to him and placed his hands on her cheeks. She leaned in and kissed him for several long seconds.

“You were listening,” he said, shaking his head in faux disapproval.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she denied, leaning her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a tight hug. They stood there for a quiet moment.

“You’re worried,” he muttered.

“Back at you,” she said.

“You must just be feeling me feeling _your_ worry,” Klaus retorted. She smiled but remained in silent fear.

“I’ll keep you safe,” he promised.

“Who’s gonna keep you safe?” she asked.

“You,” he said, smirking.

“Well, why didn’t I think of that?” she said fondly. She pulled her face away from his shoulder so she could see his eyes. He brought his hand up to her hair and softly brushed it behind her ear. She closed her eyes softly at the gesture. For a moment, she let herself forget where they were. She forgot about the boarded-up house, the hybrids, and the wolf about to turn downstairs. She pretended she was in Paris with him, only this time they were everything they could have been. Klaus pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She fluttered her eyes open and gazed at him for one more second of willful ignorance before her peripherals betrayed her and the Salvatore house came into view.

“I love you,” she whispered.

* * *

“So, why’s everybody all freaked out? Didn’t Klaus kill a dozen of these hybrid things by himself with a sword? They can’t be that scary,” Ben said. He sat on the ground, watching Katherine and Elijah put up chains for his transition. Katherine waved him over to help her bolt them to the ceiling.

“Don’t underestimate them. They can kill Caroline, Liz, or you, and the most powerful person on the planet is dead,” she said nonchalantly.

“I love how these little details about my death are just creeping in one by one. Lest we forget my having to turn _chained up in a_ _basement_ ,” he complained.

“You’re our family, Ben, we won’t let anything happen to you. Right, Katerina?” Elijah assured him. Katherine smiled at his use of “our”.

“Depends if he talks back,” she said. Ben grinned. Katherine pulled on the chains hard to see if they would break. They held strong. Elijah checked his watch. Ben would start transitioning in a few minutes.

“Are you ready?” she asked, as she pulled out a knife.

“Yeah, I can’t wait; it gets better every time,” Ben said sarcastically. He shrugged off his hoodie and walked to the center of the room. Elijah began chaining him up. Katherine cut him on the forearm and collected the blood in a small glass vial. He barely reacted. Becoming a wolf redefined pain.

Elijah locked Ben’s last cuff and touched Katherine’s shoulder.

“I’ll stay with him,” he said. She nodded and closed the distance between them, hugging him tight.

“Be safe,” he whispered. Katherine closed her eyes and fell into the silence. After the nonstop clanging of the chains and Ben’s chatter, she enjoyed a quiet moment of peace against his chest. Katherine quirked her head, puzzled.

“Do you hear that?” she asked. She pulled away from Elijah and listened intently.

“I don’t hear anything,” Ben said.

“Shh,” she quieted him. Elijah listened intently.

“A hum,” he said. It was faint and low, but unmistakable when you listened for it.

Katherine walked in the direction of the sound. A pile of random debris piled high in the corner of the basement. It was common for the Salvatores to keep a cluttered basement cell, but now that she thought about it, she’d never seen the corner piled with wood before. She kneeled on the ground and heard the humming grow louder the closer she got to its source. She took the pile apart, one plank at a time, until she spotted a small metal device. She flipped the device over onto its side when she saw numbers counting down. Six seconds remained.

“Get him out now!” she yelled, sprinting over to them. Elijah began to undo the clasps.

“No time,” she said, pulling as hard as she could on the chains to break them. Elijah did the same on his side.

“What--,” Ben began, but before he could answer, his surroundings were a fast blur as he was carried up the stairs.

The basement exploded behind them.

Katherine, Elijah, and Ben went flying into the living room as the flames swallowed half of the boarding house. Klaus and Caroline were startled out of their embrace and ran to their sides.

“Mom!?” she yelled out. Stefan, Liz, and Bonnie came running in. The flames destroyed the house one floor board at a time. The staircase went up in flames. The foyer would be next. Ben cried out loudly. The bones in his right arm broke.

“Oh, my God,” Liz whispered. Her head whipped around in time to see a vampire break open the window. He couldn’t enter, but he rose a crossbow in her direction. The bow tripped the wire Klaus set up, and five stakes flew at him from the other side of the room. One landed in his heart and he fell to the ground.

“We need to run,” Stefan said to Klaus. They heard the chanting of what must have been a dozen witches surrounding the house. The pursuers began ripping apart the walls and leaving fist-shaped indents in the steel panels covering some of the windows.

“Ben and Liz in the middle,” Klaus commanded. The rest formed a protective circle around them. Bonnie rose her hands toward the fire and tried to hold it off. She managed to slow it spreading as she walked backwards with the group, but it continued to inch toward them. Liz started coughing on the smoke filling the house. Ben screamed out again. His legs broke beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Caroline pulled his arm around her shoulder and helped him move along with them. The group moved into the kitchen together. The witches outside suddenly screamed out in one collective cry.

“Cylpeus!” Bonnie whipped her attention at the word.

“Oh my God,” she said.

“Now’s not the time for dramatic, effect, Bonnie. What?” Caroline asked, feeling Ben writhing at her side as he tried not to turn.

“They’re putting up a barrier. They’re not trying to get in. They’re trying to make sure we don’t get out,” she said.

“They know they’ll suffer casualties if they swarm us,” Elijah said.

“Bonnie can hold off the fire, right?” Caroline asked optimistically. Bonnie continued chanting, but all she could do was slow it down.

“I’ll be the one to do it,” Ben growled. “I’m gonna kill everyone if I can’t get out.” He yelled out in pain and punched the counter so hard the granite broke beneath his fist. Suddenly, swarms of vampires began to hit and try to tear apart the walls. They made a small in the wood. Elijah and Caroline ran to the walls to head them off when a vervain grenade came flying in through the wall. Elijah grabbed Caroline and threw her across the room when the grenade exploded. Vervain and glass covered his skin and he screamed.

“Elijah!” Katherine yelled. She was at his side in an instant. She hissed as she wiped the vervain from his face with her own hand. She pulled a shard of glass from his eye and he yelled. His skin began to heal, and his expression turned furious.

The witches chanting grew louder as they walked the barrier tighter around the house. Suddenly, somebody burst in through the wall. They all braced to fight until they saw who it was. Elena held a bloody axe in one hand. A spray of blood covered her yellow blouse.

“Hybrids are guarding the perimeter along the trees. Damon and I killed a lot of them. He’s out there now,” she said. She looked at Caroline. They weren’t healed, but she wouldn’t let her die, either. Not without doing everything she could to stop it. Liz started coughing hard on the smoke. Katherine grabbed a kitchen towel and handed it to Liz, who held it over her mouth.

“Did you take out any witches?” Klaus asked.

“Three. Probably ten left,” Elena replied. Her eyes fell on Ben. He sweat profusely and screamed as his eyes turned yellow. Bonnie swayed on her feet, overwhelmed by holding the fire back. The flames danced in the doorway. They would be completely cornered soon.

“I can’t hold it off any longer,” Ben whimpered on his hands and knees. Klaus and Caroline kneeled next to him.

“Turn me,” Ben said. Klaus froze.

“What?” he asked.

“Turn me. I’ll kill everyone in here but you and Elijah. You have to turn me,” he said. His back snapped in half, contorting his body.

“He can’t, not without--,” Caroline started. Then she remembered. The whole reason Katherine was alive in the first place: what she bartered for her freedom. Klaus looked up at her. The walls surrounding them were on fire. Smoke and Ben’s pained screams filled the room. Everything stopped for a moment, though, as Caroline felt Klaus’s sorrow envelope him.

“He can’t be sired to me,” he said. His tone sounded desperate. He begged the universe to keep him from having to do it.

“You won’t use it,” Caroline assured him. “You won’t.” He held her gaze for the only second he had. She believed in him. It was enough. He pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket and tossed it to Elena.

“Please,” he said.

Elena opened the box to find the cure inside. It was everything she wanted. It was everything she felt guilty for taking for herself. She didn’t have time to think about it. She looked over to Stefan, who nodded gently to her. She saw Ben collapse onto the floor as his back broke again. With only another second of hesitation, she broke open the shell and drank it. She swayed on her feet, and Stefan caught her as she went unconscious. He laid her down on the floor behind the kitchen island.

Klaus bit into his wrist and held it out to Ben.

“This is gross. You guys d-do this all the time?” the wolf quipped through the searing pain. He drank the blood.

“I need to unlink you first. Living relative, remember?” Bonnie called out over her shoulder.

“What about the fire?” Stefan asked. Bonnie closed her eyes and mustered the energy she had. “We draw power from the elements,” she whispered to herself. Suddenly, she moved her arms fast in the direction of the wall. The fire followed her movement and blew open the wall and engulfed the witches standing outside. Bonnie’s eyes filled with tears at the sound of their screams. It wouldn’t hold the fire off forever, but the redirection bought her a couple minutes. Stefan and Elijah stood between the open wall and the group, readying themselves for any more projectiles.

Bonnie kneeled down next to Klaus and Caroline. Katherine handed Bonnie the vial of Ben’s blood and took Liz’s hand in her own. She cut a long incision into her outstretched palm.

Bonnie joined Klaus and Caroline’s hands and spilled the blood on top of them. She began chanting the incantation under her breath. Her nose dripped with blood.

Suddenly, the witches remaining stood where the wall once stood. They glared at the vampires in front of them.

“Goodbye, Klaus,” the leader said. “Volant!” they all screamed. Suddenly, dozens of pieces of the wooden wall flew at them all lightning fast. Katherine grabbed Liz and pulled her to the floor with her. Elijah tried to catch it all, but there were too many. Several pieces flew at Caroline. Stefan jumped in front of her, using his own body as a shield.

“Separatum!” Bonnie yelled as a piece of wood embedded itself deep into Klaus’s heart.

The last thing Caroline saw was Stefan’s body fall to the ground. The last thing Klaus felt was her grief as the body went grey.

* * *

_Ben in a college graduation gown. Klaus’s hand on my lower back. Katherine and Elijah can’t stop smiling. They adopted him recently. He’s not a kid, but they don’t care. The sun beams down on them. Party at our place after. We’re honeymooning in New Zealand actually. I made a daily itinerary for us. Wait, where’s Stefan?_

Caroline woke up suddenly. She immediately felt the aching pain in her chest. She blinked her surroundings into focus. She was in her bedroom at home. The warm yellow walls brought her a second of comfort before the nights of the evening rushed back to her. She glanced down at her chest. It was patched up. She reached her hand up and opened the bandage. It was nearly healed, but her wound was unmistakable evidence of what was recently a gaping hole in her chest. Bonnie broke the link just in time. She craned her sore neck over to see Elijah and Katherine, fast asleep on a cot on the other side of her bedroom. She saw Klaus slumped over in a chair next to her bed. His hand was stretched out near hers. He had fallen asleep holding it.

Caroline touched his hand gently to wake him. As she made contact with his hand, she froze. She couldn’t feel her own touch. It was such a strange sensation to adjust to. Every time she touched his chest, she’d feel it on her own. It was somehow harder to adjust to not having. Klaus stirred awake next to her. When he met her eyes, his face showed the relief that flooded through him. Caroline could see it, but she couldn’t feel it. She already longed for the peace it would bring her.

“Is everyone okay?” she asked.

“Ben is with your mom downstairs; they’re fine. Bonnie is okay; she went home. Damon and Elena are… they took some time away,” he said. Caroline’s eyes stung with tears. Stefan’s name was conspicuously omitted from the list. She didn’t dream it.

He stood up from the chair and laid gently next to her in the bed. He wrapped his arm gently around her waist.

“Does that--,” Klaus’s voice broke. He cleared his throat. “Does that hurt?” he finished. She shook her head.

“Did they kill them?” she asked.

“Katherine got us out. The fire took out most of the witches, so the barrier fell. Elijah got the rest. Whichever hybrids survived disappeared when the witches died. The magic keeping them here stopped.”

Caroline closed her eyes and felt the tears fall down her face, soaking through Klaus’s shirt.

“How long was I out?” she asked.

“A day.”

“I bet you’ve been fun to be around.” She tried to joke, but it came out hollow.

“Yep,” Katherine said, stretching. “We’ve been calling him, ‘Klaus Levelheaded and Calm Mikaelson’. It’s long, but accurate,” she said. Caroline smiled as her friends walked over to her. Katherine lifted the blankets on her other side and crawled into bed next to her. Katherine rested her cheek on Caroline’s shoulder. Elijah sat on the bed on Katherine’s other side.

For several moments, Caroline’s quiet sobs were all that filled the room. Klaus brushed his thumb along her hip soothingly. Katherine pressed her forehead hard to Caroline’s shoulder. Elijah held her elbow tight. She let herself fall apart. They held her together.

“We’ll give you a minute… go tell your mom and get you some blood,” Katherine said. Caroline squeezed her hand and nodded.

“Thank you,” she said. Elijah and Katherine walked out of the room, leaving the door ajar. Klaus took Caroline’s hand in his own and asked a question he hadn’t needed to in a long time.

“How are you?”

Caroline looked down at their hands. It felt wrong. It wasn’t what it was supposed to feel like. She poked his hand gently. She poked it harder. Nothing. A profound sadness overwhelmed her as she traced his wrist with her finger. She remembered doing that to him in the Dublin airport. She remembered how fun it was to tickle him. She’d never heard him laugh that way before. She couldn’t feel it anymore.

“Lonely,” she whispered. Klaus nodded and brought her hand to his face.

“I know,” he said. The emptiness was unbearable. They longed for each other’s floods of emotions and sensations.

“What do we do now?” she asked him.

“Well, you can make your graduation now. I think your prom is next week,” he said. Caroline smiled, remembering him talking crap about her priorities in that little pub in Dublin.

“Well, I’ll need a date,” she said.

“Maybe Ben is free,” he said. She giggled and pinched him. The easy banter made her both smile and horribly sad. She wished she could feel it.

Klaus’s nerves flooded his body. They felt like television static in his limbs. The link was a powerful antidote to loneliness. She probably would have fallen in love with anyone she experienced it with. Maybe his love for her had created a reverberating effect. She thought she loved him because she could feel how much he loved her.

“You’re free now,” he whispered.

Caroline looked up at him with an unreadable expression. She flipped the comforter off of her and made the aching movement to get out of bed. She walked over to the open door and looked back at Klaus. He held her gaze with vulnerable, naked eyes. Caroline closed the door gently. They wouldn’t leave the room for a while.


End file.
